Don't Let Your Guard Down
by BackstabberEm
Summary: It's 7th year of Lily and James's time at Hogwarts and they hate each other. But what happens when arrogant, outgoing James and sweet, shy, innocent Lily are thrown together as Head Boy and Head Girl and are forced to spend more time together? MWPP & Lily
1. Ground rules, Gilligan, and Cookies

**_Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 1_**

_I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaack! haha, I KNOW it's been a really long time, but I've been so busy with working at a summer camp and my first semester of my sophomore year at college. But don't worry, I'll keep up with posting even with school!_

_Disclaimer: Everything you don't recognize, belongs to me. _

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"Yeah, you _definitely _shouldn't have been chosen for Head Boy," Peter said to James.

"I know!" Sirius exclaimed. "It should've been _me_."

The other three exchanged glances. "Well…at least we know Dumbledore has somesanity," Remus said and laughed as he watched Sirius pout.

"I wonder who Head Girl is," James said.

"Well…we know who you hopeit is," Sirius teased.

"Nancie Borden?" James exclaimed, obviously joking.

"Okay that bimbo couldn't even tell you what a pencil looks like," Remus said.

"But she's hot…and that's all that matters," James joked.

Sirius groaned. "Giliba alert." The three guys turned to see Gillian Giliba (Gigi...pronounced GG) walk through the platform. Gigi, Lily Evans's best friend, had long straight dark brown hair. Her eyes were crystal blue and her skin was as tan as you could get which looked great on her 5'4 height. She was outgoing and was one of the most popular girls in the school. She had a reputation as a date 'em and drop 'em girl but everyone still loved her. Everyone that is, except for Sirius Black.

"Could that girl possibly get any hotter?" James murmured. Sirius gave James a disgusted look.

Remus saw this and said, "I'm guessing the answer is no."

"Good answer," Sirius said. The four boys turned to see Gigi run up to another girl and give her a huge hug. That girl happened to be the blond hair, blue eyed friend of Lily, Kacie Hunter. Kacie was 5'8 and had shoulder length layered hair. She was the complete opposite of Gigi in her looks and attitude, meaning she was not as outgoing and was the shy timid sweet one that everyone loved because she could usually calm Gigi down when she was raging mad (along with Lily).

"It'll only be seconds before Lil-" Sirius started before Lily Evans ran up to the girls and gave them a huge hug. "Told ya."

"Shall we go torture them?" James asked.

"I've got a better idea," Sirius said. "You go kiss Lily, and I'llgo torture Gigi."

James rolled his eyes. "Are you evergoing to tell us what the hell happened between you and Gigi?"

"If I had any clue, I would tell you," Sirius said, as the four walked over to the girls.

"Head Girl! That's so amazing!" Kacie exclaimed, giving Lily another hug.

"I wonder who Head Boy is," Gigi said. "I bet it's-" Gigi cut herself off when she saw the marauder's walking towards them. "Black," she muttered angrily.

"Black?" Lily asked and then burst out laughing. "You think the Head Boy is _Sirius?_"

"No, I'm just-"

"She's close you know," Sirius said, leaning against the wall with a smirk. "Lily, how dare you grow up and become gorgeous."

"It's just too bad you'll never have a chance with me," Lily said, rolling her eyes.

"Okay, this flirting has _got _to stop," Gigi mumbled.

"I agree," James muttered.

Lily turned to James and gasped. "Who did you steal that from?" she asked, pointing to the Head Boy badge.

James smirked. "Apparently Dumbledore thinks you and I would work well together."

Lily stared at him in awe and then narrowed her eyes. "I can_not _believe this is happening," Lily exclaimed angrily. "Doesn't that man have _any _common sense at all?"

"He didn't make_ Sirius_ Head Boy," Remus pointed out.

Lily paused. "Okay, so maybe Dumbledore has a tiny bit of common sense."

Sirius pouted. "That seems to be the consensus around here," he muttered.

James looped his arm loosely around Lily's shoulders. "Oh come on Lils, aren't you excited about working with me?"

"So excited that I'm very close to resigning," Lily muttered, and then removed James's arm from her shoulders. "And don'tcall me Lils."

"Okay sweet cheeks," James teased.

"How about you don't call me anything at all?" Lily suggested.

"Okay honey bun," James said with a wink. Lily glared at him. "Uh, I mean Evans."

"You know what you being Head Boy means," Sirius said to James with a smile.

"Don't you _dare _say more parties, more pranks, or less work," Lily said before Sirius could continue.

"I was goingto say a room to himself," Sirius said. "But more parties is a _much _better perk!"

"How 'bout we get a compartment before they're all filled up," Remus suggested. "Do you guys want to share a-"

"No," Lily, Gigi, James, and Sirius all exclaimed.

Kacie turned to Remus. "I'm taking that as a no."

"You're a genius," Remus said, rolling his eyes. "Maybe _you _should be Head Girl."

"So Lily, you're gonna be quite lonely in that huge room all to yourself. How about I-" Sirius started.

"Sirius, stop flirting and get on the train," Lily said, pushing him forward.

Sirius shrugged. "I'll be in the room all the time anyway."

"Oh really? Who says?" Lily asked.

"My best friend _is _James," Sirius said.

"Who says I'll give you the password?" James asked.

"Because I've got secrets about you piled up since we were two," Sirius said. "Make me mad and I may just let one slip." James laughed and followed Sirius onto the train.

* * *

Lily could feel someone breathing down her neck and she turned to see James staring at her. "May I _help _you?"

James just shook his head but didn't move. Lily went back to reading but got aggravated when James didn't stop staring at her. "Potter!" Lily exclaimed, throwing her book down. "If we are both going to be stuck in this room together, we need to set a few ground rules."

"Like what?" James asked, sitting down on a couch across from Lily.

"Stay away from me at all times," Lily said.

James looked sheepishly up at her. "So I guess sitting across from you constitutes as not saying away huh?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Exactly."

James waited for her to continue but she didn't say anything. "I thought you said ground _rules_."

"Stay away from me pretty much sums them all up," Lily said.

"Well if you get to set ground rules, then I have one to add," James said.

"In no way am I dating you, kissing you, touching you, or being anywhere near you," Lily said.

James opened his mouth but Lily cut him off. "And no piece of my clothing is coming off."

James shut his mouth quickly. After a few seconds he spoke, "What about parties?"

"Damn, I knew I forgot something," Lily joked. "Oh and I have one last rule. If you tell your friends the password and they never leave, I _will _have to kill you," Lily said.

James slowly got up and started leaving. "Where are you going?" Lily questioned.

"I may have broken one of your rules already," James said sheepishly.

"_Potter_," Lily whined.

"Don't worry, they won't bother yo-"

"Prongsie my man!" Sirius called out, entering the room.

James turned to Lily. "And I _may _have spoken too soon."

Sirius looked around. "Where are all the snacks?"

"You just ate twenty minutes ago," Lily pointed out.

"And I repeat, where are all the snacks?"

"And _I _repeat, you just ate _twenty _minutes ago," Lily insisted.

"Actually, it's now been twenty-_one_ minutes," James noted. Lily and Sirius gave James a look. "But what do I know?"

"Just go down to the kitchens if you're hungry," Remus said to Sirius.

"Trying to get rid of me?" Sirius asked.

"Yes," Remus, James, Lily, and Peter all said at once.

"Hmph," Sirius exhaled, leaving the room and bumping right into none other than Gigi.

"Black."

"Giliba," Sirius said with a nod.

Gigi rolled her eyes and started walking ahead but stopped when she heard Sirius speak up. "Hm, Gillian Giliba. That's a really strange name."

"Not as strange as the name Sirius for a guy that can be described as anything _but _serious," Gigi muttered.

"Your parents must have hated you, giving you a name like Gillian Giliba," Sirius said. "What's your middle name? Gilligan?"

"What the hell is your problem Black?" Gigi demanded to know. "You always have to make snide comments. I was perfectly happy walking past you saying nothing."

"I'm sorry but I'm allowed to make snide comments at the girl who started hating me for no reason," Sirius snapped.

"For no _reason?_" Gigi exclaimed. "You practically-" Gigi cut herself off and just sighed. "Forget it." Gigi started walking away.

"Bye Gilligan!" Sirius cried out.

"Go to hell!" Gigi exclaimed over her shoulder.

"That girl is _really _screwed up," Sirius muttered.

"Shut up Black!" Gigi burst out.

Sirius cringed. "And has _really _good hearing."

* * *

"Just a back to school party!" James exclaimed.

"NO!" Lily cried out.

"You're not the boss of me!" James burst out.

"But I'm the boss of what goes around in our Head quarters," Lily insisted.

"This belongs to _two _of us," James pointed out.

"But only _one _of us respects this space," Lily said.

"It's okay James, I've got a plan," Sirius called out from James's bedroom.

"Sirius has a plan?" Lily muttered. "_Those _are the four scariest words in the English language."

James glared at Lily and went into his room, shutting the door behind him. "Does the plan include killing Evans in her sleep?"

"No…but the plan can always be revised," Sirius joked.

"She just aggravates me so much," James seethed. "She has to be such a goody-two shoes. When is she _ever _going to let loose and have fun?"

"Forget about her," Sirius said. "You do realize that this space here is not the only place to have a party correct?"

"What are you suggesting?" James asked. "Throwing a party on the Quidditch pitch?"

Sirius paused. "Can we _do _tha-"

"No," James cut him off quickly.

Sirius paused again to think. "What about-"

"No."

"Okay, well how about I just tell you my original plan?"

"What's the point? I'm not gonna like it," James asked.

Sirius scowled. "Why do you assume you won't like it?"

"Because your ideas always suck."

"Oh, right." The two boys laughed and Sirius continued with his plan. "We can sound proof the Gryffindor common room and have the party there."

"That sounds too good to be a Sirius plan," James said apprehensively.

"I am _appalled _that you would say that!"

"So Remus suggested it?"

"Oh yeah."

"Sound-proofing?" James said. "Does that really work?"

"Yeah, I've used it around my bed when…" Sirius trailed off. "Never mind, I'm not going to finish that sentence."

"Oh thank god," James said, breathing out. "Won't Evans kind of notice if she walks into the common room and she sees a party going on?"

Sirius paused. "How smart would you say she is?"

"Smart enough to see music blasting, people dancing, and people stumbling because they're too drunk."

"Who says people will be stumbling?"

"I've seen you drunk Sirius, it's not a pretty sight."

"We just need to distract her for awhile," Sirius said with a shrug.

"_All _night?" James asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Okay, so maybe I didn't think this all the way through," Sirius exclaimed.

"You mean _Remus _didn't think it all the way through," James said.

"Oh, right."

* * *

"Studying?" Sirius asked, sitting down by Lily.

"What are you doing?" Lily asked.

"Sitting."

"Next to me?"

"Sure looks like it," Sirius said.

"And are you planning on studying?" Lily asked.

Sirius burst out laughing and then saw the annoyed look on Lily's face. "Oh…you were being serious?"

"This is a library, Sirius. People study in here," Lily said and then looked up at him. "Wait a minute...what are _you _doing in a library?"

"I'm going to read," Sirius said. Lily gave him a look. "…I got lost on my way to the kitchen."

"Well how about I direct you to the kitchens," Lily said. "It's anywhere but _here_."

"Why do you despise us so much?"

"Who's us?"

"James, Remus, Peter, and I. The Marauder's. The hotties of Gryffindor."

"Sirius, I don't despise you," Lily said tiredly. "And I _certainly_ don't think you're the hotties of Gryffindor."

"Lily, if you don't despise us then w—how can you say we're _not_ the hotties of Gryffindor!"

"Oh yeah, _that's _the problem at hand," Lily said, rolling her eyes. "And I don't despise all of you. Only Potter."

"Oh, well as long as we've got that cleared up," Sirius said.

"And Remus can be too quiet at times. That gets on my nerves," Lily said.

"I get it," Sirius said.

"And Peter doesn't stick up for himself. That's _really _annoying."

"Okay."

"And you're cocky, and think you're the greatest thing alive, and-"

"Do you not hear me speaking?" Sirius asked.

"Oh yeah! That's another thing, you speak too much," Lily said. "Thanks for reminding me."

"You do realize that all these years I've tried being nice to you."

"Oh puh-_leaze_," Lily exclaimed. "Flirting with me and treating me like I'm a piece of meat is being nice?"

"Lily, when's the last time you were friends with a guy?"

"Probably the last time you were friends with a girl," Lily said.

"Touché." Lily went back to reading but Sirius wasn't ready to give up and leave. "How 'bout you walk down to the kitchens with me?"

"How 'bout you go walk down to the kitchens and I'll sit here quietly and study," Lily suggested.

"We could, but I like my idea better," Sirius said.

"And I like my idea better," Lily said.

Sirius sighed. "You're not coming with me are you?"

"Not a chance." Sirius sighed but kept staring at Lily.

Lily closed her book. "You know what Sirius? You show me that you're not all about girls and sex, and perhaps I'll be nice to you."

Sirius paused. "I never said anything about not being about girls and sex."

Lily reopened her book. "I knew being nice to you wouldn't last long."

"Why do you read so much?"

"It teaches me how to get rid of annoying, arrogant Gryffindors," Lily said, not even looking up from her book.

"Hmmm, I don't know any annoying, arrogant Gryffindors," Sirius said.

"That's funny, because I'm staring right at one," Lily said.

Sirius gasped. "I am _not _annoying and arrogant."

"You're right," Lily said. "I forget to say pompous."

"That's better," Sirius said and then sighed again. "I hate people," he muttered.

"What a coincidence, people hate _you_," Lily said smugly.

"People don't _hate _me," Sirius insisted.

"Oh really?" Lily asked, closing her book once again. "Those girls out in the hallways exclaiming that you're a player who would do anything for sex aren't people?"

Sirius paused. "Okay, so _some _people hate me."

"Oh and don't forget all the professors. When they hear that you're in their classes, they cringe."

"I get it," Sirius said, getting aggravated.

"And remember Gigi?" Lily asked.

"Shut _up!_" Sirius exclaimed. Lily was taken aback by that response. She didn't realize Sirius got so offended when talking about the people who hate him. "Look, you think I like the fact that I'm not able to make a relationship work? Do you think I like that professors detest me? And don't even get me started on the fact that the screaming fests Giliba and I have aren't fun for me."

Lily closed her book and got up. "So…you wanted to go to the kitchens right?"

Sirius's face broke out into a grin. "Lead the way m'friend." Lily glared at him. "Uh, I mean my acquaintance." Lily glared at him again. "Lils?" Lily glared at him harder. Sirius shrugged. "I'll work on it."

"Good idea."

* * *

"You call turning his hair pink for a week _nice_?" Lily claimed, sticking another spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.

"We nearly killed him last year," Sirius pointed out.

Lily paused. "Well then I can see why turning his hair pink is classified as being nice." Lily was sitting on the countertop eating ice cream, facing Sirius who was leaning against the wall eating cake.

"So what was the stupidest thing you've ever done?" Sirius asked.

"I don't do stupid things," Lily said. "I'm a smart person."

"No really, name something stupid you've done."

Lily stopped to think. "Not becoming friends with you sooner."

Sirius smiled. "Now all you have to do is be nice to Ja-"

"Don't finish that sentence," Lily urged.

"Why not?" Sirius asked, watching Lily jump off the counter. "Being nice to James shouldn't be a big deal."

Lily took Sirius's plate of cake and hit Sirius in the face with it. She grinned. "I warned you not to finish that sentence."

"We were having a nice bonding moment and you just hadto ruin it huh?" Sirius asked, wiping the cake away from his eyes.

Lily shrugged. "It's what I do best."

"Screw up friendships?" Sirius asked.

"Annoy you."

"Ahh, my second guess."

Just then Kacie came into the kitchens. She stood there horrified. "What are you two doingtogether?"

"Making out," Sirius said, not missing a beat. Lily glared at him.

"We were eating," Lily said.

"While making out," Sirius added.

"In no way were we making out Sirius!" Lily exclaimed.

"We could change that ya'know," Sirius said with a grin. Lily gave him a death stare and narrowed her eyebrows at him. Sirius turned back to Kacie. "We were eating."

At that moment, the house elves came out with freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. Lily turned to Sirius in horror. "You had them make _cookies?_"

"Yup," Sirius said with a grin, biting into one.

"But…but I'll _eat _them," Lily complained.

Sirius stopped eating his cookie and looked around. "Um…I don't see the problem here."

"I'll _eat _them," Lily repeated.

Sirius looked over at Kacie. Kacie looked up and shrugged, finishing her cookie. "Don't look at me, this cookie is amazing."

* * *

"How did _he _get a perfect score?" Lily whined, watching as James beamed at his wonderful grade.

Sirius smiled proud. "He takes after me."

Lily looked over at Sirius's paper. "Well he certainly doesn't _copy _off of you."

Sirius pouted and crumpled up his parchment. "Well this is stupid," Sirius said with a shrug. "In twenty years, I'm not going to need to know Arithmacy."

"You will if you're still at Hogwarts," Lily muttered.

Sirius pouted. "Remind me why we're friends."

"I'm not sure…but we can go back to hating each other if you want," Lily said.

"Every time I bring up us being friends, you're going to use that line aren't you," Sirius groaned out.

"Yep," Lily claimed, walking out of the classroom. Sirius followed, but tripped over his bag and ended up spilling out all its contents.

Lily burst out laughing and said, "You're right, James _does _take after you," as she walked past him.

"Okay, can we _please _move out of the middle of the doorway?" Gigi asked from inside the room.

"That depends," Sirius snapped.

"On what?" Gigi asked.

"On whether or not you're planning on jumping off a cliff anytime soon," Sirius sneered.

"Well, you're out of luck," Gigi said.

"Then so are you," Sirius claimed. Gigi groaned and stepped over Sirius, not worrying about stepping on him a little. "Hey! You're getting my robes dirty!"

"They're alreadydirty," Gigi grumbled. "_You're _wearing them."

Sirius got up from the ground. "You're so inconsiderate Giliba. I didn't say anything to you, I didn't do anything to you but you immediately start insulting me!"

"It's not _my _fault you happen to be in my way! I wasn't the one who asked for you to be born!" Gigi cried out.

"Why don't you just-" Sirius started.

"GUYS!" Lily cried out, running over and stepping between them. Gigi and Sirius glared at each other but didn't say anything. "What the hell is _wrong _with you two? Yelling at each other in the middle of the hallway?"

"What's going on?" James asked, coming over with Kacie, Remus, and Peter.

"Just the usual. World War 3 over here," Lily said, pointing to Sirius and Gigi.

"Why do you care so much Lily?" Gigi asked. "You never cared if I yelled at Sirius before."

"Yes I did," Lily said. "It's immature to stand in the middle of the hallway screaming at the top of your lungs, and it's annoying to listen to, and my eardrums can only take so much, an-"

"And it's hard to see two of your friends fight," Kacie said.

"Oh...and that," Lilywhispered guiltily.

"Friend_s?_" James asked.

"Well yeah, Lily and Sirius are friends now," Kacie said.

"What?" Remus questioned.

"_What?_" James asked.

"_WHAT?" _Gigi cried out.

Everyone looked at Kacie. "What?" she asked sheepishly.

"You're friends with this jerk?" Gigi asked Lily.

"You're friends with Evans?" James hissed into Sirius's ear.

"So…who's ready for some dinner?" Lily asked, walking away.

"Ooooh, me, me! I am!" Sirius exclaimed, running after her.

* * *

"How can you _like _that guy?" Gigi grumbled, as she watched Sirius stuff his face with food. "James is exactly the same as Black. How can you get along with Black but not James?"

"Because Sirius doesn't ask me out every five seconds just to prove something to his friends," Lily said. "And he doesn't brag about how great he is in academics and Quidditch, and he's not a spoiled brat who gets everything handed to him on a silver platter, and he doesn't think girls are toys and he-"

"You're _kidding _me right?" Gigi asked. "The day Black commits and thinks girls are people and not objects will be…well, it will be never! There will never be a day where Black respects girls!"

"I'm not _deaf _ya know!" Sirius cried out from a few seats down. "If you have something to say to me, say it to my _face _Giliba!"

"You're an egotistical womanizer!" Gigi yelled at him and then stomped off.

"I said _my _face," Sirius muttered, throwing his piece of bacon down. "Not everyone else's face."

James couldn't help but laugh a little. Sirius glared at him, "What the hell is so funny?"

"That girl despises you," James said between laughter.

"At least I'm not in love with the girl who despises me," Sirius said with a smirk.

James stopped laughing immediately and turned to Sirius. He looked angry at first but then he just nodded with a thin smile. "Touché."

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Review and tell me what you think so far!


	2. Goody Two Shoes, Parties, and Snogging

**_Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 2_**

_Disclaimer: everything you recognize belongs to the brilliant JK Rowling. _

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Lily entered her commons room but stopped when she heard her name being mentioned.

"You tell Evans and you'll immediately regret it," James insisted.

"It's just a party," Sirius said.

"No, to her it's breaking the rules, and the law, and it's just plain wrong," James complained. "Come on Padfoot. You've known her for seven years. You think that just because you two paint each other's toenails and braid each other's hair that-"

"Ex_cuse _me?" Sirius asked.

James shrugged. "It's what I picture girl friends doing."

"Really? Because I usually picture them wearing skimpy underwear, having pillow fights, and talking about me," Sirius said with a grin.

"_Anyway, _Lily's not going to drop everything and be happy that we're throwing a party just because you two have somehow settled your differences and are now friends."

"Well we can't have a party without her finding out anyway so why not tell her be_fore_," Sirius suggested.

"Because Evans is a goody-two-shoes," James pointed. "She can't stop us duringthe party, but she can certainly stop it from happening. Ugh! I wish she would remove that stick up her ass. We need to find a guy for her and get her laid so she can be happy and stop acting like such a bitch."

Sirius sighed. "How about we move on to another topic of discussion?"

"Like what kind of alcohol you're going to spike the punch with?"

"That's a _much _more interesting topic," Sirius said with a grin.

Lily decided to walk in at that moment. The two boys looked up from what they were doing. "Oh, hey Evans," James said.

"Bite me," Lily growled and then walked into her room and slammed the door.

Sirius and James exchanged looks. "Um…do you think there's something wrong with her?" Sirius dared to ask.

* * *

"I am _not _a bitch. And I am _certainly _notgoody-two-shoes," Lily argued to her friends. She was pacing back and forth in her room the next day.

Kacie and Gigi exchanged looks. "Wait…you _didn't _know that?"

Lily stopped pacing and stared at them. "Um…what?"

"You just seem surprised that James called you a goody-two-shoes," Kacie said with a shrug.

Lily's mouth hung wide open. "I am _not _a goody-two-shoes!" She claimed. "Oh Gi, can you use a coaster? I don't want there to be a ring from the bottom of that soda can." Lily gasped. "Oh my god…I _am _a goody-two-shoes!"

Lily exited her room and stomped over to James's room, banging on the door.

James jerked the door open. "The point of knocking is _not _to break off your hand."

"You have this party!" Lily exclaimed. "You have an awesme party! Hell, have it in the Slytherin Commons Room for all I care!"

"Okay, calm down there," James said. "One thing at a time."

"That is a _much _better idea than having it in the Gryffindor Common Room!" Sirius exclaimed.

James gave Sirius a look. "And it's also physically impossible."

Sirius shrugged. "Technicalities."

Lily started walking back to her room but turned around. "Oh, but I still think you're a jerk." And with that, she went into her room and closed the door.

James groaned and looked over at his friends. "Well…at least she's allowing us to have the party," Remus noted.

* * *

"Whoa," Sirius said, giving a low whistle. "Girl's got it going _on_."

Lily turned to him. "Girl's got what going where?"

"Um...you're perrrty," Sirius said. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Hey Lils," James said, coming over.

"Don't call me Lils."

"Thanks again for allowing us to have this party…not that it was up to you or anything," James said.

"Just so you know, I didn't allow you to have this party to make you guys happy," Lily said. "I did it because I don't want to be known as a goody-two-shoes anymore."

"You? A goody-two-shoes? Nooo," Sirius said sarcastically.

Lily rolled her eyes and started walking away. "Who calls you a goody-two-shoes?" James called out.

"Oh, I don't know, ask my nail polish, hair braiding buddy," Lily said with a fake smile and then walked away.

Sirius turned to James. "I think she's on to us."

James groaned. "She _heard _that conversation?"

"I think that _may_ explain the 'bite me' comment…" Sirius said slowly. "Although I would gladly bite her and-"

"Why am I friends with you?" James asked with a groan.

"Because of my hot body," Sirius said with a grin. James gave him a horrified look. Sirius grinned sheepishly. "Yeah…that really only works with Lily."

* * *

"I still think it was funnier when she thought it was Christmas in May," Harrison said.

"Oh no way, it was much better when she thought Sirius was the king of England," Lily said with a laugh.

"Speaking of Sirius, why are you here?" Harrison asked.

"Huh?"

"Why are you at a Marauder party?" Harrison asked.

Lily shrugged. "It was about time to find out what all the fuss is about."

"So do you see why everyone comes?"

"No."

"Oh come on," Harrison said. "Great music, good food, lots of people, dancing-"

"Alcohol, drunk first years, annoying Marauders to deal with," Lily said.

"Yeah I know. Isn't it great?" Harrison joked. Lily gave him a look. "You're right, it's awful."

"And illegal, and against the rules," Lily mumbled.

"Well…maybe you can talk the guys into never having another party again until they go to college," Harrison said with a shrug.

"Or _prison_," Lily mumbled.

"Well how 'bout we dance and forget about the Marauders?" Harrison suggested.

Lily looked around. "Wait, me? You want me to dance? Me dance?"

"Yes. It's the thing where music is playing and you move around in an enjoyable way with a friend."

"So...you're the friend..."

"And I think I hear...yep, that is _definitely _music playing in the background."

Lily paused. "Now all we're missing is the moving around in an enjoyable way part."

"Sex?" Harrison asked. Lily glared. "Oh look, there's an empty spot on the dance floor!" Lily laughed but followed him onto the dance floor.

* * *

"Whoa, Lily is actually _dancing_," Sirius noted.

"Wait, Lily? You mean, Lily is dancing? Lily dance?" James asked quickly.

"No, Lily shake that ass," Sirius said with a grin. James glared at him. "I mean, Lily dance."

"Who invited her?" James mumbled. Sirius gave him a look. "Oh…right. But did she have to wear _that_? I mean she actually looks-"

"Sexy? Hott? Attractive? Gorgeous?" Sirius asked. James glared at him. "I mean ugly, hideous, gross-"

"Shut up Sirius," James said.

"Will do."

"People are actually _noticing _her with what she's wearing," James mumbled. "I mean, who does she think she is? Attracting all that attention?"

"Yeah, that's _our_ job!" Sirius cried out.

"I bet you wish you were that guy now huh?" Remus asked, coming over after seeing James stare at Harrison and Lily talking.

"Of course not," James answered as Sirius answered, "Yup!"

James glared at Sirius. Sirius rambled, "I mean nope, no way. Dancing with Lily? How completely tormenting and totally awful and-"

"Sirius," James warned.

"Shutting up now."

"Who is that guy dancing with Lily anyway?" James muttered, as Peter walked over to them.

"You know him. That's Harrison Piedmont," Remus pointed out.

"Um, no I don't know him," James said.

"Well he's the guy-" Peter started.

"Dancing with Lily," James said with a nod.

"So you _do _know him," Peter joked. James gave him a stern look and he quickly shut up.

"No really, who is he?" James asked.

"He's the Ravenclaw version of you two," Peter said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sirius asked.

"He's all about booze, sex, and girls," Remus said.

"Preferably all of them at the same time," Peter said.

"Don't forget Quidditch," Sirius said.

"Preferably _not _at the same time," Remus added.

"Doesn't Ravenclaw have its _own _girls?" James mumbled.

"He's been with all of them," Remus said.

"So have we," Sirius said with a grin.

"And I bet they liked us better," James said with a grin.

"You guys make me sick," Remus groaned.

"Whatever turns you on," Sirius said. The three boys turned to him in horror. "Yeah…another line that only works with Lily."

"You should start making a list of phrases you can only say to Lily," James said.

"I don't do homework, but yeah, I'll willingly make a list," Sirius said sarcastically.

"Point taken," James said.

"And moving on," Remus added.

"Isn't there a rule?" James mumbled. "Like, you have to be at least six inches away from your dancing partner?"

"What? Then how the hell do you snog—oooh, now I get it," Sirius said.

* * *

"He's using you, ya know," James said. Lily turned around and groaned. "He just wants your body."

"Who doesn't," Sirius said with a grin. Lily and James glared at him. "Certainly not me." James and Lily kept glaring at him. "Oh look, there's someone who needs to dance." Sirius jetted across the room to dance with someone.

"How long til he figures out that's a guy?" Lily asked.

"I give him ten minutes," James said.

Lily shrugged and started walking away but James cried out, "Did you hear what I said?"

"Of course, and I chose to ignore you," Lily said. "You should be pretty used to that by now."

"He's a player and he's-"

"I don't want to hear it," Lily exclaimed, coming back to stand next to James. "And what gives you the right to tell me this? Do I look like someone who cares?"

"I'm just trying to help," James said.

"Help? You want to help? Try flinging yourself off a bridge!" Lily exclaimed.

"Why are you being so hostile? I hardly said a word to you," James said.

"I'm sorry if I don't feel like being lectured about my love life from the guy who talks about me behind my back and then doesn't understand why I turn him down every time he asks me out!" Lily exclaimed.

"You weren't supposed to hear that conversation," James pointed out.

"That doesn't make it okay to talk about me!"

"Oh c'mon. Like you don't talk about people behind their backs?"

"No I don't! I'm considerate and respectful of other people's feelings! But now that you have gotten me so riled up, I'm going to go find Gigi and talk about you!" Lily screamed, stomping off.

"Don't forget to mention how cute I am!" James called out. Lily turned around and glared. "I'm doomed."

* * *

"He makes me _sick!_" Lily cried out. Gigi and Kacie turned around.

"Is it me, or have the greetings gone downhill around here?" Gigi asked Kacie.

"Potter thinks he can control me and tell me what to do and it's just…ugh!" Lily exclaimed.

"Lily, I think you just need to get over him," Kacie suggested.

"Get _over _him? I was never _under_ him," Lily claimed. Gigi and Kacie exchanged glances. "Okay, thattotally came out wrong."

"Lily all we hear is Potter this and Potter that and oh my gosh he's so annoying and why can't he fall off the face of the earth," Gigi pointed out.

"Why _can't _he fall off the face of the earth?" Lily pouted. Gigi gave her a look. "Oh right, you were trying to make a point. Continue."

"You talk about him constantly and yet you're standing here telling me that you have no feelings whatsoever for him?" Gigi asked.

"It depends. Do feelings of wanting to strangle him count?" Lily asked. Gigi gave her a look. "No! Look guys, I do _not _and never_ will _have feelings for James Potter."

"Not even a little bit?" Kacie asked.

"Not even a smidge," Lily said and then turned to Gigi. "You guys suggesting that I like Potter is like me suggesting that you like Sirius."

Gigi paused to think about that and then turned to Kacie. "Yeah, she definitely does _not _like James."

"AHA!" Sirius cried out. Kacie, Lily, and Gigi turned to him and gave him a weird look. "...I'm not sure why I did that."

"Because only _normal _people say hello these days?" Gigi asked smugly.

"Here Lily, I got you some punch," Sirius said.

Lily looked suspiciously at the punch. "The same punch you spiked earlier?"

Sirius grinned guiltily. "Um…no?" Lily rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll just give it to Giliba. God knows she's probably already drunk."

"Look who's talking Black," Gigi muttered.

"I have a question," Sirius said. "Is it easier to get into bed with you before or _after _you drink?"

"And I have a question for you Black," Gigi sneered. "How long does it take you to change clothes?" And with that, Gigi threw the punch right into Sirius's face and sauntered off, laughing as it soaked down into Sirius's clothes.

Lily turned to Sirius and shrugged. "In all fairness, you deserved it." Kacie and Lily laughed as they followed Gigi.

Sirius groaned and trudged back to his friends. James looked at him and burst out laughing. "Um, Padfoot? You have a little something on your shirt…" Remus practically spit out his punch as he burst out laughing.

"Yeah, that tend to happens with your sworn enemy throws a glass of punch in your face," Sirius noted.

"Well now I know not to go near Gi," James said.

"She's not your sworn enemy," Sirius pointed out.

"And apparently that's a _good _thing," James said and Remus and James laughed as Sirius tramped upstairs.

* * *

"Yeah! And then he told me that it wasn't his…" James trailed off and stared into space.

Remus waited for him to finish but nothing came out of his mouth. "Um…care to finish that sentence?" James didn't look like he was going to move anytime soon. "Uh hello? James!"

"And she's not even drunk," James mumbled under his breath.

"Huh?" Remus asked and then he turned around to see what James was staring at. "Ooooh."

James came out of his trance. "Huh? What?"

"You were totally just staring at Lily," Remus said amusedly.

"Yeah? Well who _isn't_? Isn't it about time they came up for air?" James muttered. "I never knew Lily was like that."

"Like what?"

"The kind of person who makes out while dancing on the dance floor. And she has no alcohol in her!" James claimed. "Ugh, I'm going over there and-"

"And what?" Remus asked. "Please enlighten me on what you're going to do when you get over to Lily and Harrison."

James exhaled. "Hmpf. Fine, but there has to be _something _I can do."

"Look around you Prongs! _Everyone's _making out on the dance floor. It's what people _do_," Remus pointed out. "Siriusis doing it."

"Well he's allowed to!"

"Why?"

"'Cause I don't like Sirius!" James exclaimed. James stopped. "Oh my."

"What?"

James turned to Remus. "What am I _think_ing?"

"I don't know, what _are _you thinking?"

"How could this happen!"

"Huh?"

"I can't believe this!" James cried out.

"Oookay, I'm gonna need more vowels Vana," Remus said.

"I like Evans," James said surprisingly. "Oh my god. I can't like Evans!"

Remus looked at him in shock. "Wait, you didn't knowyou liked her?"

James looked at him in horror. "You _did?_"

"Everyone does!"

"I always thought people were joking. I mean, _I _was always joking!" James said. "Why am I just standing here? Why am I not over there? I've gotta go talk to her!" James started walking away but immediately stopped when he saw her kissing Harrison. He came back over to Remus. "I suddenly remember why I'm not over there talking to her."

Remus looked over at Lily kissing Harrison and sighed. "Maybe they're just friends." James gave him a look. "Oookay, maybe they're brother and sister?" James glared at him. "Oookay, maybe-"

"For the love of God Remus, _shut up_," James said.

"Well maybe if Lily came over here and stuck her tongue down my throat, I'd shut up," Remus said with a snicker. James glared at Remus. "And maybe I'll be going now." Remus started walking away but saw the long face on James and sighed. He grabbed Sirius's shirt and dragged him over to James with him.

"Look Prongs, just try to forget that she's over there dancing with another guy," Remus said.

Sirius saw James staring at Lily and sighed. "Now, this could be the spiked punch talking considering I've had about ten cups, but I care for you and I don't want you to get hurt by sitting over here staring at Lily."

James smiled weakly and looked to Remus for advice. "I've only had one cup, so I just think you're cool," Remus said and the three friends laughed.

* * *

"Where's Lily?" Sirius asked.

"I saw her leave about half an hour ago," Remus said. "But get this, you know how earlier you came up and told James to forget about Lily?"

"Uh huh," Sirius said, downing the rest of his punch.

"Prongs had _no _idea that he fancied Lily. He just realized it about two minutes before you came over."

"What? But everyone else knew!" Sirius exclaimed.

"I know!" Remus cried out. "And-"

"Hey Peter!" Sirius cried out. "Guess what?"

"What?"

"Prongs had no idea that he liked Lily!" Sirius exclaimed.

"What? But everyone else knew!"

Remus and Sirius both exclaimed, "_I know!_"

"So can I ask you a question?" Peter asked. Remus and Sirius nodded. "If Prongs has finally discovered that he likes Lily, then why the hell is he making out with Nancie Borden on the dance floor?"

"Because clearly the next step after figuring out that you like someone is to make out with someone completely different," Remus said sarcastically.

"That's my philosophy too!" Sirius cried out. Remus gave him a look. "Hey, I didn't say it was a _good _philosophy."

"I can't believe him," Remus muttered.

"Huh?" Sirius asked.

"He's such a coward," Remus said, shaking his head. "The moment he finds out that he actually has feelings for a girl, he runs away from it. He doesn't want to face the fact that he actually _likes _someone so he goes up to the next girl he sees and makes out with her."

"I don't think he means to…" Sirius said slowly.

"Sirius," Remus said, turning to him. "If you found out you had feelings for a girl, what would you do?"

"Ignore her and go have sex with another girl," Sirius said instantly. "Ooooh, now I get it."

"Uh oh," Remus said under his breath.

"What?"

"James is leaving," Remus noted.

Sirius looked at Remus. "And this is a problem_?" _

"Lily left…" Remus said.

"Okay, I am _still _not seeing a problem."

Remus sighed. "Lily probably went back to the room with Harrison and now James is going to go back there with Nancie."

"Oooh, big problem," Sirius muttered. Sirius grew quiet for a few seconds. "Wanna go see what happens?"

"I'll grab the popcorn," Remus said.

"Guys, you can't just follow them," Kacie said. Remus and Sirius whirled around.

"Okay, how long have you been standing there?" Sirius asked.

"Long enough," Kacie said with a shrug, and then pulled the boy's clothes away from the door so they couldn't follow James.

"I'm sorry, would you like me to find you a leash?" Sirius asked sarcastically.

"Does anyone else see a problem with _Lily _bringing a guy back to the room and all of us standing here alone?" Gigi asked, walking over to them.

"Gigi!" Kacie reprimanded. "That's awful!"

"It _is _awful," Sirius exclaimed but then paused. "True, but _awful._"

* * *

"So Lily, did we get lucky last night?" Sirius asked, sitting down beside Lily at breakfast the next morning.

"Could you _be _any cruder Sirius?" Lily asked. Sirius opened his mouth but Lily stuffed bacon into his mouth. "You know what? Forget I asked that."

"This bacon is much better than the answer I had anyway," Sirius said with a grin. "So if you didn't have sex, do you know if James did?"

Lily looked at him in disgust. "I don't even know how to answer that."

"A simple yes or no will do," Sirius said.

"I don't listen to what happens in the room next door Si," Lily said, rolling her eyes.

"Well maybe you should, you could get some great tips," Sirius said with a wink.

"From Potter?" Lily asked. "Look, let's talk about something else."

"Hey Lils," Gigi said. "So, you brought a boy back to the room huh?"

"Is _anyone _going to let me live this down?" Lily asked, burying her face in her arms.

"So how was your evening, huh Lily?" Remus asked, walking up from behind Lily.

"Guess not," Sirius said to Lily with a laugh.

They all turned to see James walk in with a huge smile on his face. "Well, it looks like _some_onehad sex last night."

"Hey guys, what's up?" James asked.

"You mean besides your self-esteem?" Sirius asked. James just rolled his eyes.

"So Evans, have fun making out with Harrison all night?" James asked. "Next time could you please spare us the public display?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't know making out was a crime," Lily snapped. "Because if it were, you and Sirius would have gone to jail years ago."

"Hey! Keep me out of this," Sirius cried out. James groaned and sat down next to Lily.

"What are you doing?" Lily asked.

"Uh…sitting?" James asked.

"Next to me?" Lily asked.

"Uh…yeah?" James asked.

"Hell no," Lily exclaimed, shaking her head violently.

"Okay, you are seriously going to have to clue me in to what the hell I did that was so horrible to you," James said.

"You were _born_," Lily snapped and then stormed off.

"That girl is a puzzle," James muttered.

"But a rather _hott_ puzzle," Sirius said with a grin but quickly frowned when he saw James glare at him. "I mean…"

"Shut up Si," James said.

"Good idea."

* * *

"Get the hell out of my room!" James heard Lily shout from her room that night. He stopped in the entrance and watched as Harrison walked by.

"Get out Harrison…and I say that with love," James said sarcastically.

"She can see right through you," Harrison snapped.

"Excuse me?"

"She's no idiot. Not matter what you do, she won't like you," Harrison sneered.

"And apparently, she won't like you either," James scorned and then pushed him out the door. James took a deep breath and entered the common room. He peered into Lily's room to see her crying on her bed. "Um…Evans?"

"Go away Potter," Lily said, wiping away her tears.

"Evans, you hardly knew him," James said awkwardly.

"That didn't stop him from trying to sleep with me," Lily said. She then looked up and groaned, instantly regretting what she said. "Oh god, I can't believe I just said that."

James walked a little further into her room. "What happened?" he asked as nicely as possible.

Lily sighed and sat up. "Apparently he thought because I made out with him that sleeping with him was the next step," Lily said.

"Yeah…we guys tend to think that," James said. Lily smiled a little.

"Well you guys suck."

"No…but apparently we think _you_ should," James said. Lily gave him a look. "Not helping?"

"Not really."

"Just forget about him," James said with a shrug.

Lily sighed and lay down on her bed. James took that as his cue to leave. But before he left, he turned around and said, "Evans?"

"Yeah?"

"In no way do I think you are a goody-two-shoes or a bitch. I was aggravated and took it out on you and I'm sorry," James said. He started to leave but said one more thing. "Don't be so hard on yourself, someone else will come along." And with that, James walked out and didn't get to see the small smile that started to form on Lily's face.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

_Chapter 2 is up...don't forget to review!_


	3. Pranks, Gum, and a Box of Tissues

**_Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 3_**

_disclaimer: read previous chapters_

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"Someone's in a good mood today," Gigi noted in class the next morning.

Lily shrugged. "And why not? The sun is shining, the sky is clear-"

"Lily has a boyfriend," Kacie added.

"What?" Lily asked and then burst out laughing. "You think Harrison and I are going _out_?"

"You aren't?" the girls exclaimed. "What happened?"

"He was a _guy_," Lily said in disgust.

"Um…that's usually a quality I likein a boyfriend," Gigi said.

"It doesn't matter," Lily said with a shrug.

"Okay, so if you're not going out with Harrison, then why are you so happy?" Kacie asked.

Lily was about to answer but saw the Marauders walk into class. She smiled as they walked down to the girls. "Hey Lily," James said.

"Hey James," Lily said back as the boys took the seats in front of them.

"Ooooh, I get it," Gigi whispered and then looked confused. "Wait, no I don't."

"You just called him James," Kacie said.

"Isn't that his name?" Lily asked innocently.

"Not for the past six years," Gigi noted.

"Yeah, I never thought you knew his real name," Kacie said.

"You mean asshole, jerk, and egotistical prat aren't his real names?" Gigi teased.

"Dude, Lily just called you James," Sirius whispered to James.

James smiled. "I know."

"What did you _do _to her?" Sirius asked.

Remus rolled his eyes. "I think what Sirius means is what did you _say _to her?"

"Nooo, I want to know what he _did _to her," Sirius repeated.

James shrugged. "We just talked."

"Oooh yeah, okay _talked_. That's what _I _do when I want to make a girl happy," Sirius said sarcastically.

"Listen up class!" the professor called out. "Your tests from last week were awful. Only a few selective people managed to do okay."

"Okay, Lily is _still _smiling," Sirius noted. "Even after the professor has announced that we all did badly on a test."

"I'm going to let you take a make-up test," the professor was saying.

"No fair, I don't know anything about makeup," Sirius pouted.

* * *

"I don't want to talk about it," Gigi insisted.

"That's not stopping me from asking," Lily said.

"Jimmie's a cool guy," Gigi said with a shrug.

Kacie and Lily exchanged looks. "Yeah, I'm gonna need more details."

"Why, you looking for a nice guy to have sex with?" Gigi asked.

"So that's all you did?" Lily asked with a groan.

"Yes, we skipped dinner and the movie and went straight to bed," Gigi said.

Kacie turned to Lily. "I'm kind of wishing we had listened to her when she said she didn't want to talk about it." The three girls were lying around on the grass after classes attempting to get a tan.

"That cloud looks like a monkey," Kacie said.

Gigi and Lily exchanged looks. "No it doesn't."

"Yes it does!" Kacie insisted. "Well...a monkey that has gained a lot of weight. And that has no arms or a tail. And no facial features."

"So basically it's a fat blob?" Lily asked.

"Exactly."

"Well that one looks like Black," Gigi noted.

"How?" Lily asked.

"You don't see it? The huge head, nose stuck up in the air, and a cocky grin?" Gigi asked.

Lily and Kacie glanced at each other. "You sure you're not looking at the _actual _Sirius?"

"Yeah…too bad he's not actually _up _there," Gigi said.

"Oh come on, you don't really want him dead," Kacie said. Gigi glared at her. "…or maybe you do."

Lily groaned as Harrison walked across the field. "What the hell is he doing here?"

"Walking?" Gigi suggested.

"And flirting," Lily muttered as she watched Harrison stop and talk to a few girls.

"You have _got _to forget about him," Gigi said. "And because I'm a real friend and I'm here to help, I've taken the liberty of separating the boys here at Hogwarts into different categories of desirability. There are the warm, sensitive, really smart guys. Losers! Feel free to pass them on to Kacie."

"Hey!" Kacie cried out.

"Does Danny ring a bell?" Gigi asked.

Kacie paused. "Continue," Kacie said.

"And then there are the guys with hot bodies, great hair, and make you pass out when you walk by them," Gigi said.

"Sounds good," Lily said.

Gigi hesitated. "On second thought, I'll keep these for myself. You can have my rejects," Gigi said.

"Oh yeah, you're a real friend," Lily said, rolling her eyes. "And I don't need a guy to get over Harrison. I _am _over him. It's quite easy to get over a jerk like Harrison."

Gigi shrugged. "Well, when you want my rejects, feel free to ask." Lily laughed and glanced over at the sixth years sitting on the grass a few feet away. Lily grinned as she saw one of them drool as Gigi adjusted her spaghetti strap dress.

"Okay, so what are we doing tonight?" Kacie asked, sitting up from the grass.

"Getting drunk and going to a strip club?" Lily teased. "Wait no, that's the Marauders."

"For your information dear Lily, we don't need to pay money to see chicks get naked," a deep voice said from behind. "Girls here do so willingly for us."

The girls turned around to see the four Marauders standing behind them. "You guys are like a pack of wolves. Do you guys ever go anywhere and do anything individually?"

"Yes in fact we do Giliba," Sirius said. "We find sex more enjoyable if we aren't all together."

"And then there's the times we throw Sirius in a lake and leave him there when he says inappropriate comments," Remus noted.

"Well then do me a favor," Gigi said. "Throw him in the lake now. Oh, and if you drown him, I won't tell anyone it was you."

"You don't want me dead Giliba," Sirius said. "I'd come back and haunt you."

"You already _do _haunt me," Gigi snapped.

"He said haunt, not _taunt_," Lily interjected.

"He does haunt me," Gigi said. "It's called a nightmare."

"Awww, you dream about me?" Sirius asked Gigi.

"I'm not sure you should be happy about that. She wakes up screaming every night," Kacie pointed out.

Sirius thought about it and then shrugged. "As long as she's dreaming about me."

"So what are you guys doing out here?" James asked.

"Making sixth year boys drool," Lily said with a laugh. Her friends gave her quizzical looks so she nodded her head in the direction of the boys who were staring at Gigi.

"Hey!" James exclaimed. "They can't stare at you guys like that!"

"Yeah, only _we _can stare at you like that!" Sirius insisted. Lily gave him a look. "…or not."

"Alright we're going to sit over there and do homework," James said, pointing to a bare spot by a tree.

Lily raised her eyebrows at him. "Homework?"

James shrugged. "Homework, prank planning: same thing."

"And I'm sure the professors would back you up on that idea huh?" Lily said with a laugh. James shrugged and the four boys walked away.

"So you and Lily seem to be getting along," Sirius said as soon as the girls were out of earshot.

James shrugged. "Looks that way."

"So can I ask you a question?" Sirius wondered.

"Of course. Ask me anything."

"Does Lily sleep in her underwear?"

"Anything but that," James said.

"Does she do homework in her underwear?"

"Or that."

"Does she read in her underwear?"

"She doesn't do anything in her underwear!" James exclaimed.

"Oooh, so she does everything naked? Even better," Sirius said. James threw his hands up in defeat.

"Okay, enough about Lily's underwear," Remus said, looking up from his parchment.

"Yeah, you guys could have any girls at this school. Let's talk about _those _girls for once," Peter noted.

"Whoa, look hott Gabrielle looks today," Sirius said with a sly grin, talking about a sixth year Ravenclaw.

"If she was wearing any less clothing, she'd be naked," James spoke up.

Remus turned to Peter. "Oh look, now you've got them started. Soon they'll be moving onto body parts and sex."

"So how was she in bed?" James asked.

"Told ya," Remus whispered to Peter.

"Not as good as me," Sirius teased to James.

Peter looked at them in disgust. "You are so cocky."

"Yes, but apparently girls like that," Sirius said.

"Not Gigi and Lily," Peter muttered. James and Sirius glared at Peter. "Too mean?"

James and Sirius just shrugged but went back to talking about girls.

"I have the finalized plans written up for our prank this weekend," Remus spoke up.

"You're been writing up plans for a prank this entire time?" James asked.

"But you're supposed to be the _good _guy. The innocent one that no one ever suspects," Sirius said. "And now you're coming up with plans for a _prank?_"

"I am the innocent one that no one suspects and no one will find out that I have come up with this prank," Remus warned.

"They'll know," Peter noted.

"How?" Remus asked.

"Because everyone knows James and Sirius aren't smart enough to come up with it."

* * *

"I'm glad we decided to steal the keys from him before coming to do this prank," James whispered later that night.

"Yeah, so now we're not breaking and entering, we're just entering," Sirius said with a grin.

"Still illegal Si," Remus said.

"But I can't _go _to prison," Sirius said. "I'm too pretty."

"And _what _do you think you guys are doing?" Lily demanded to know.

The four boys whirled around to see Lily in her robe and slippers.

Sirius turned to James. "You're right, she doesn't do anything in her underwear."

"Ex_cuse _me?" Lily asked.

"We're just having a nice chat," Sirius said with a shrug.

"And you need a parchment full of plans, a map, and the invisibility cloak for a nice _chat _at 2 in the morning" Lily asked.

Sirius turned to his friends. "Okay, someone else give her an excuse."

"Why do you ask us what we're doing if you _know _what we're doing?" James wondered.

"Because it's fun to see you guys squirm," Lily said. "And it was especially fun to see Sirius attempt to come up with an excuse."

"Lily, we've been planning this all day," James said. "You can_not _make us back-"

"I want in."

The four boys exchanged looks. "Did I really just hear her say that?" Sirius asked.

"I want in," Lily repeated.

"Yup, I _definitely _heard it that time," Sirius said.

"Pleeeease? Come on guys," Lily pleaded.

James turned to Remus. "This may change your plans a little."

Remus ripped up the parchment. "To hell with the plans! Let's be spontaneous!"

"Uh Rem?" James said. "That paper had the passwords on it."

"Apparently spontaneous doesn't work for me," Remus said.

"Okay, we're just gonna get in and get out, okay? No funny business," James said.

"Why do you look at me when you say that?" Sirius asked.

"Who should I be looking at?"

Sirius paused. "Me."

"We only have a few minutes, so no examining every little thing and poking around," James said.

"Why do you look at me when you say that?" Lily demanded to know.

"Who should I be looking at?" James asked.

"...me," Lily said.

"Okay, and no whining about not getting to do anything alright?" James asked.

Peter turned to Remus. "Why does he look at me when he says that?"

* * *

"Why have we stopped?" Lily asked.

"We have to wait a little," James said with a shrug.

"How will we know when to stop stopping?" Lily asked. James gave her a look. "Oh, you know what I meant."

"Well…this may surprise you, but we've given the most important part to Sirius," James said.

Lily stopped walking. "Ex_cuse _me?"

"Just to warn you, he's in charge of making sure we don't get caught and he'll give us the signal when we can continue with the prank," James said with a shrug. "Now, I know you don't completely trust Sirius with your life and anything and you may feel that this to you this is a little problem and-"

"A _little_ problem? No, no, no. Losing a bottle of nail polish, now _that's _a little problem. Having our physical well-being depend on_ Sirius_, that's a_ big_ problem," Lily cried out.

"To be fair, I _did_ warn you," James said. Lily gave him a look. "And you don't seem to care about fair right now."

Lily laughed. "I'm just kidding. I've seen many different sides of Sirius. He can be serious when he really wants something."

"Especially when he wants a girl," James teased. Lily laughed.

"And even more so when he wants _two _girls," Lily said with a laugh. "So…what's the signal?" Lily asked.

"Sirius will light his wand from the tower up there," James said, pointing to a tower above them.

"Okay, but-"

"Shhh," James insisted. James and Lily grew quiet as they saw someone turn the corner. Lily gasped when she saw that it was Harrison. James covered Lily's mouth to keep her quiet but took out his wand and muttered something under his breath. A few seconds later, Harrison had a tail.

"James!" Lily hissed, but there was a hint of a smile. "You can't just put a hex on everyone you hate."

"That's what my dad said," James said. "So I turned his hair pink."

Lily laughed. It grew quiet between them so Lily turned to James. "But thanks."

"Thanks?"

"Well, I assume you did that for me. You never really disliked him before what he did to me," Lily said.

"Well you're wrong," James said. "For your information, I hate that guy because he steals my girls away from me."

Lily snorted but shrugged. "Oookay."

James looked at Lily and smiled. "You're welcome," he whispered after a few seconds of silence.

Lily turned to look at him and smiled back. James's face got a serious look on it and Lily stopped smiling, but didn't stop staring at James. James looked into Lily's eyes and slowly brought his lips to hers. Lily was surprised but melted into the kiss. She didn't even protest when James slipped his tongue into her mouth and she gently massaged his tongue as they both explored each other's mouths. They broke apart as they were blinded by a light coming from the tower.

"I guess it's time to go," Lily said after she caught her breath. James nodded weakly and they walked up the stairs to meet the rest of the guys.

* * *

It was the next afternoon and the boys were lying around James's room. "That prank went _sooo _well!" Sirius exclaimed.

"We pulled it off," Peter said with a smug smile.

"Where's Lily? She should be celebrating with us!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Lily? Lily who? Why? We don't need Lily," James said extremely fast.

Peter and Sirius exchanged looks. "Okay, what's up?"

"Nothing," James said.

"Well, then I guess I'll go get Lily," Sirius said, starting to get up.

"No!" James cried out and then sighed. "Lily and I kissed."

"Lily can wait," Sirius said, sitting back down. "You _kissed _her?"

"She kissed back!" James exclaimed.

"When?"

"When we were playing the prank," James said.

"No fair!" Peter claimed. "I get stuck waiting around with Remus while you get a gorgeous girl to make out with."

"Alright, here are the snacks," Remus said, coming into the room. "And Peter, I won't pretend that didn't hurt."

"Hey Rem, so you know how James has dated, made out with, or had sex with almost every girl in this school?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah…" Remus said slowly.

"It seems that he has moved on and made out with the last person you would think of," Sirius said.

"He's dating a _professor?_" Remus exclaimed.

"NO!" Sirius cried out. "He made out with Lily."

"Ahh, my _next _guess," Remus said and then turned to James. "So I get stuck with Peter and you get to make out with _Lily?_"

Peter turned to Remus. "I won't pretend that didn't hurt."

"So you made out with Lily?" Remus exclaimed.

James shrugged. "We were bored."

"Peter and I were bored and you didn't see _us _making out!" Remus exclaimed.

"It's not a big deal," James said with a shrug.

"You've been going after this girl since you could talk," Remus said. "In fact, I think your first words were 'Lily's hott.'"

"I haven't _known _Lily since I could talk," James said, tossing a ball up in the air and catching it.

"But you've been dreaming of her since the day you were born," Remus noted.

"Look guys, it's no big deal at all," James said with a shrug.

"Does she know that?" Sirius asked.

"It just happened okay?" James asked. "And we're going to move on from it as if it _hadn't _happened."

"You're such a guy," Remus mumbled.

"I know. But when I get pigtails and boobs, I'll get back to you," James said.

"Pigtails? What are you, _eight?_" Remus asked.

"It's the first thing that came to mind," James said with a shrug.

"So you're really going to act like you and the girl you've been after since first year didn't kiss?" Sirius asked.

"I don't think she wants to make a big deal out of it," James said.

"Did she say that?" Peter asked.

"Well she didn't actually come out and say 'I don't want to make a big deal out of it,'" James said with a shrug.

"Well what _did _she say?" Remus asked.

"She didn't say anything. She was too busy sticking her tongue down my throat," James said.

"That is a visual picture I did _not _want to think about," Remus insisted.

"I wish she'd stick her tongue down _my _throat," Sirius muttered. The three guys gave him a disgusted look. "Oh oops, did I say that outloud?" James threw the ball at him.

"She hates me. She despises me. She wants me dead," James said.

"What's your point?" Sirius asked.

James rolled his eyes. "Why would a girl who hates me want a relationship?"

"So you're just going to live life as if nothing happened?" Remus asked.

"Yes," James said. "In fact, I'm going out with Nancie tonight. But don't tell Lily."

"Why?" Sirius asked. "If this situation is like you say it is, she won't care."

"Just do me that one favor okay?" James asked, jumping off the bed to get dressed.

* * *

"Hey Si," Lily said, sitting down for dinner.

"Hey Lily," Sirius said.

Lily just looked at Sirius nervously. Sirius looked up from his food. "Yes?"

Lily opened her mouth and then shut it and shook her head. "Nothing, forget it."

"Okay," Sirius said with a shrug.

Lily glanced over at Sirius again and opened her mouth to say something, but quickly closed it. Sirius looked up. "Okay, what do you want?"

Lily took a deep breath and asked warily, "Do you know where James is?"

Sirius froze mid-bite. "Um…nope, no idea."

Lily looked at him apprehensively. "You two are joined at the hip. If you're not together then you know where each other is."

"Not this time," Sirius said nervously.

"Come on Sirius, where is he?"

"I don't know!" Sirius insisted.

"You tell me and I'll give you this piece of gum," Lily said.

"A whole piece of gum!" Sirius said sarcastically. "No. I am not telling you for one lousy piece of gum. In fact, I'm not telling you at all. I swore I wouldn't tell you." Sirius groaned. "Crap, now I've said too much."

"_And_ a piece of pie," Lily said.

"He's down by the lake," Sirius said, reaching for her plate. "Hey! You ate this piece of pie!"

"Oops?" Lily said and then ran off.

"You still owe me a stick of gum!" Sirius called out and then muttered to himself, "It better be spearmint gum."

Remus walked in at that moment and sat down next to Sirius. Before he could even scoop food onto his plate, Sirius spoke up. "We're in trouble."

Remus looked up. "I don't like it when conversations start that way."

"Oh, sorry," Sirius said. "Hey, how are you?" Sirius paused for a split second. "We're in trouble."

Remus sighed. "What happened?"

"Lily is going to find James right now."

"You _told _her where he is?"

"She offered me _pie!_" Sirius exclaimed. "How was I supposed to refuse?"

"Easy...with the word NO," Remus claimed.

""But I wouldn't have gotten the pie!"

"What kind of pie was it?" Remus asked.

"I don't know, she ate it."

"So basically you gave up information Lily didn't need to know about in return for...nothing?"

"Yeah," Sirius said with a shrug. "Wait a minute…she used me!"

"Apparently that isn't difficult."

* * *

Lily walked down to the lake, thinking that maybe she should go back and change into something else. She mentally kicked herself for even thinking about changing something about herself for a guy. And not just any guy but _James. _

"You're so cute!" a girl squealed, splashing James with water. Lily stopped in her tracks and hid behind a tree.

"I know, it is one of my better qualities," James said with a grin.

Nancie grabbed James's arm. "So…should we skip the chit chat and go straight to your room?"

"No!" James cried out. "I mean…talking is always nice."

Nancie laughed but then stopped when she saw that James wasn't laughing. "Oh…you're serious?"

James rolled his eyes but kissed Nancie. Nancie wrapped her arms around James and deepened the kiss.

Lily looked up at the tree and whispered, "Guess it's just you and me." She then shook her head. "Oh good, now I'm psycho. That'll make James like me even more." Lily turned away and stomped back up the castle, making a strong effort to not cry because she did _not _want to get worked up over a guy...especially when the guy was James.

* * *

"Lily?" Sirius asked.

"Hey look, Lily you-" Remus started.

"Leave me alone, okay guys?" Lily asked and then sauntered off.

Sirius sighed and turned to Remus. "So…do you think she saw James with Nancie?" Remus hit Sirius over the head. "I'm taking that as a yes."

Lily sat on the couch in the Head quarters, just staring up at the ceiling. A few hours past and she heard James come in. Lily immediately got up and ran to her room, but tripped over the rug and fell over. She looked up to see James giving her a weird look. "Um…hi?" Lily said.

James just shook his head with a hint of a smile and walked towards his room.

"So how's Nancie?" Lily asked and then cringed, annoyed with herself for bringing it up.

James slowly backtracked. "Um…what?"

"How was your date with Nancie?" Lily asked, getting up from the floor.

James sighed. "Okay, who told you?"

"Sirius…but for a good reason," Lily said.

"There _is _no good reason to violate a friend's trust," James groaned.

"I offered him pie," Lily said.

"Ooh, yeah that actually is a good reason," James said.

"And what does it matter who told?" Lily asked. "It wasn't like you were being secretive. I saw you kissing by the lake."

James looked down at his feet. "You saw that?"

Lily shrugged and started to walk into her room.

"You're not mad are you?" James asked.

"What? Me? Of course not! For me to be mad, I'd actually have to _like_ you," Lily said. "And that of _course _is not the case."

"Okay…good," James said slowly.

"I mean why should I care that you and I share a good kiss one night and you're out with another girl the next night?" Lily asked harshly.

"You don't sound too convincing on the 'not mad' thing," James said.

"I'm surprised you didn't bring her back here. I mean, that's why you want to forget about us kissing last night, right? Because I wouldn't have sex with you at the drop of a hat?" Lily cried out.

"You _know _that's not true!" James exclaimed.

"You didn't even talkto me," Lily said. "You just moved on to the next girl. It's no wonder every girl in this damn school hates you."

"Including you!" James burst out. "You've always hated me Lily!"

"Not anymore!" Lily cried out and then sighed. "Well until tonight that is."

"But…but…I thought you hated me. You spit out my name as if I were Satan, you complain to other people about me," James said.

"I did," Lily said. "But then you were so nice the other day, and I thought maybe we could be friends." James gave her a look. "…or at least we could be civil." Lily got up from the couch and turned to face James. "But then you just turn around and act like the guy I always knew you were."

"Lily, I acted like this because I thought it was what _you _wanted," James said.

"You thought that after you kissed me that I wanted you to go on a date with another girl?"

"Okay, when you say it like that you make me look like a horrible guy," James said. Lily gave him a look. "More horrible than I already am that is."

"Look it doesn't matter okay?" Lily said tiredly.

"But it _does _matter," James insisted.

"Why?" Lily asked. "Why does it matter? It's not like we were going out or anything. So you kissed me, big deal."

James looked at her apprehensively. "You're upset." A small smile crept across James's face. "You're actually upset that we're not going out."

"_What?_" Lily cried out. "Where the hell did you get an idea like that?"

"You're yelling at me! You were sitting in here feeling sorry for yourself after seeing me with Nancie!"

"I was _not _feeling sorry for myself," Lily snapped.

"Oh yeah? Then explain the empty box of tissues right there," James said with a smug smile.

"It's for decoration!" Lily said. "Look, I could care less if you were kissing Nancie. Hell, go have sex for all I care! But don't forget to use a condom. God _knows _we don't need another Potter running around!"

"I'm surprised you know what a condom is, Virgin Mary!" James shouted.

"You are _such _a jerk!" Lily cried out. "I can_not _believe I kissed you!"

"You said it was a good kiss!" James exclaimed.

"The only reason it was a good kiss was because _I'm_ a good kisser!" Lily cried out.

"Well _someone's _a little cocky," James muttered.

"Well I'm certainly not giving _you _the credit!" Lily cried out. "And it's about time someone _else_ is cocky."

"What are you implying?" James demanded to know.

"That if your head was any bigger, you wouldn't fit through the doorway!"

"Go to hell!" James said, going into his room and slamming the door.

"I'll see you there!" Lily cried out, slamming her door as well.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

_okay, that's it for tonight...tell me what you think and i'll tell you what happens between james and lily!_


	4. External Urethral Sphincter and Hayden

**_Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 4_**

_Thanks to everyone who had reviewed so far...It's nice to know that you guys appreciate my story (and it's also nice to get constructive criticism! i'm always willing to change things if someone is really that unhappy with it). _

_better continue reading...especially all of you who want to know what's going on with Gigi and Sirius..._

_Disclaimer: Do I live in England? Am I richer than the Queen of England? Do I have 4 kids? The answer to all those questions is no, so therefore, I cannot be the brilliant JK Rowling. but the plot and anyone you don't recognize belongs to me!._

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

James sighed. "I'm an idiot."

"Now tell me something I _don't _know," Sirius muttered.

"I was completely wrong about the whole Lily and I kissing thing," James said.

"Well duh," Sirius said. "Anyone could have told you that."

"Well then why _didn't _you?" James asked.

"Because you were stubborn," Sirius said.

"It doesn't matter anyway," James said. "Why anyone would want a relationship with that bitch is beyond me."

"Um…if I recall, _you _used to want a relationship with that bitch—I mean Lily," Sirius noted.

"Well those days are _definitely _passed me," James muttered.

"So you're gonna continue having a relationship with Nancie?" Sirius asked.

"We don't really have a relationship per say. It's more of a friends with benefits thing. Friends with _goooood _benefits," James said.

Sirius looked at James and shook his head. "It's no wonder Lily hates you." Sirius paused. "But now that's she's available…"

"Sirius, you are _not _hitting on her," James said.

"Why not?"

"Because!" James cried out. "It's like the guy code."

"What? You don't hit on girls your best friend hates?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, _and y_ou don't hit on girls your best friend have made out with, or had sex with, or _anything_."

"That's not fair!" Sirius exclaimed. "James, if I have to stay away from every girl you've ever been with, that would leave me with...boys."

"And Gigi," James said.

"So, I hear Mikey Dumont is pretty good in bed," Sirius noted. James laughed. "Well…I don't blame Lily for hating you. I mean you _did_ completely use her."

"You use girls all the time Si," James noted.

"I do not!" Sirius insisted.

"You're dating Gabrielle and Selma at the same time!" James said.

"Well that's completely different," Sirius said.

"How?" James asked.

"They wouldn't agree to a threesome," Sirius said.

"That has nothingto do with what we're talking about," James said.

"I know…I just wanted to tell you how upset I was about that," Sirius said. James rolled his eyes. "No, but really. Okay, yes, I use girls. But not girls like Lily. I use girls who know they're being used. I use girls who are also only in it for sex. But you and I both know Lily is different…and she has every right to hate you."

James sat up. "Don't tell me you hate me too."

"I can't hate you…you know too much about me," Sirius said. "You could blackmail me and ruin my reputation."

"That's true," James said with a laugh. "Like about the time you-"

"I'm starting to hate you," Sirius said.

"I'll shut up then," James offered.

"Good idea."

James smiled. "You know what's cool?"

"How girls can look down and see boobs whenever they want to?" Sirius asked.

James rolled his eyes. "Well yes, but besides that. It's cool how we can count on each other. We've been best friends through everything. Through our first dates and first fights. And we're gonna continue to be best friends through graduation and first marriages-"

"And second marriages," Sirius joked.

"I'm just glad that no matter what happens, no matter what comes along, no matter what girls come our way, we will always be best friends. We will always be sitting right here together talking."

"Hey James," Nancie said, passing by the couch.

"Hey Sirius," Gabrielle said with a wink as she walked by.

James and Sirius exchanged looks. "See ya!" they both said, running after the girls.

* * *

"He _said_ that?" Kacie exclaimed. "I can't believe he really thought that him making out with a girl the very next day was something you'd want. That totally doesn't sound like him." 

"Oh, so you're on _his _side?" Lily complained.

"Oh, I don't take sides when it comes to fights between friends," Kacie said.

"Yeah okay," Lily said. "…but who do you think was right?" Kacie rolled her eyes.

"They're all the same," Gigi muttered.

"Huh?"

"The Marauders," Gigi explained. "They would date all the girls in the world at the same time if it were possible."

"I think they've _tried_," Lily said.

"Just be glad you guys only kissed," Gigi said.

"Well it's not like I would ever think about having _sex _with…with that thing," Lily said.

Gigi gave her a weird look. "Running out of names to call James?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"You know, I enjoy doing this," Gigi said, leaning back on her arms. "We should come out here and just lie around talking more often."

"Hey girls," Sirius said.

"Then again, I've always liked the indoors," Gigi said, sitting up.

"Hey Sirius," Lily said, showing no emotion whatsoever.

"Hey Lils, you wanna walk down to the kitchens with me?" Sirius asked.

"No."

"Do you want to walk down by the lake?"

"No."

"How about-"

"No."

"Do you want to lie around here bitching about James?" Sirius asked.

"It's what I do best," Lily said, not missing a beat. Lily sighed. "What are you doing here Si?"

"I live in this tree," Sirius said.

"No you don't."

"I'm the father of your child."

"No you're not!"

"I'm running away."

"No you aren't!"

"You're gorgeous," Sirius said.

"Okay, I'll give you that one."

"Alright, you heard the girl, go away," Gigi said.

"She never said that," Sirius pointed out.

"Are you sure? I could have sworn I heard her say it loud and clear," Gigi said.

"No, I'm pretty sure-"

"Go away Si," Lily interrupted.

Sirius turned to Gigi. "I definitelyheard it that time."

* * *

"How do you find the right person for you?" Sirius asked a week later. Remus and Sirius were sitting in the commons room of the Head Quarters. 

"Well, you have to feel comfortable around the person. You have to be able to talk with the person and laugh with the person. You have to be able to have a good conversation," Remus said with a shrug.

"Yeah, but James is already taken..." Sirius said. "But what about you Rem? Are-"

"Do _not_ finish that sentence."

Sirius pouted and went back to his crossword puzzle. "Hey Remus?" Sirius asked, looking up from his crossword puzzle. "What's a four letter synonym for potion?"

Remus thought about it. "Brew."

"Noo, it starts with Z and ends with an X," Sirius said. "Hopefully with an AB in the middle."

"Oh yeah, you know, now that I think about it. A four letter synonym for potion_ is_ zabx," Remus joked, rolling his eyes. "So can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"When are we supposed to be meeting James here?"

"We're not meeting him here…" Sirius said slowly.

"Then what the hell are we doing in his common room?"

"Spying on Lily and seeing what she is saying about him," Sirius said.

"Sirius?"

"Yes?"

"You're not doing a very good job of it," Remus said. "Lily's been in her room for over an hour and you haven't been trying to listen to her talk."

"I didn't think she was here!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Why'd you say yes if you didn't think Lily would be here?"

"Because it seemed like an easy job," Sirius said with a shrug. "Do nothing, eat his food, sit on his couch."

Lily walked in from her room just then. "Hey guys."

Sirius looked up. "Hey Lily, hey Giliba," Sirius said.

Lily looked strangely at Sirius. "That's not Gigi, that's a bag of garbage."

"Oh, silly me. How could I make that mistake?" Sirius said. "...twice."

"Sirius?" Lily asked sweetly.

"I didn't take your blanket," Sirius immediately said.

"Then how'd you know I was going to ask if you took my blanket?" Lily wondered.

"Because every day I tell you that I didn't take your blanket," Sirius said tiredly.

"And every day, you take it."

"You got me there," Sirius said with a grin, tossing Lily her blanket.

"Hey guys," Gigi said, entering the common room.

"Yay! Gigi's here, we can start!" Lily exclaimed to Kacie.

Remus looked up from his book. "Start what?"

"Oh, you know girls," Sirius said with a shrug. "They're always...starting something."

"I _hate _it when they do that," Remus said sarcastically.

James walked in then and froze when he saw Lily. "Hi."

Lily groaned. "Hi."

Sirius whispered to Remus, "Any chance they didn't see each other?"

"Jerk," Lily muttered.

"Bitch," James mumbled back.

Remus turned to Sirius. "I can safely say the answer to your question is no."

"Who are you calling bitch?" Lily cried out. "_I'm _not the one who completely used me."

"I didn't _use _you!" James shouted.

Remus turned to Sirius. "Perhaps we should, um, go. Because that way, you know, we won't...be here."

"Shhh, I'm trying to listen," Sirius said, waving his hand frantically at Remus.

"You _really _need to look up the word 'use' in the dictionary," Lily cried out.

"I know what it means! And I can use it in a sentence: James did not use Lily!" James shouted.

"I hope you rot in hell," Lily sneered and then stormed into her room, Gigi and Kacie following.

"Ugh, that girl makes me so _mad_," James exclaimed to his friends.

"Oh really? I couldn't tell," Sirius said sarcastically.

"Come on SiriusJames, let's go into James's room," Remus said, getting up from the couch.

"SiriusJames?" Sirius questioned. "What, we aren't special enough to separate our names?"

"Yeah!" James exclaimed. "At leastput my name first."

"No, what I mean is how come it's always SiriusJames? We are two separate people ya know! It's always SiriusJames bring the alcohol, SiriusJames stop hitting on girls, SiriusJames come to the party," Sirius said in disgust. "Just once I want it to be Sirius_girl._"

"I know! It's like we're married or something," James exclaimed.

"Well let me tell you, we are having serious marital problems because Mr. Black is getting lots of action on the side," Sirius noted. "People always assume we do everything together. Why _is _that?"

"Um perhaps because you _do _do everything together," Remus said.

"Oh, I knewthere was a reason," Sirius said. "But I just wish for once I had my own life and it wasn't SiriusJames."

Remus looked up. "Does that mean you're not coming into James's room?"

"Oh no, I'm definitely coming. What else would I do?" Sirius asked.

"Complain?" Remus asked.

"Wait no, he's already done with that," James said.

Sirius pouted. "Sometimes I get the feeling you guys don't appreciate me."

Remus and James exchanged looks. "That's probably because we _don't _appreciate you."

"Oooh okay, it's all making sense now," Sirius said, following his friends into the room.

* * *

"It's been a month Lily, don't you think it's about time to stop hating James?" Gigi asked. 

"It's been a year now, don't you think it's about time to stop hating Sirius?" Lily retorted.

"Good point," Gigi said.

"Well, today is your lucky day Lily," Kacie said.

"Potter has decided to fall off the face of the earth?" Lily asked excitedly.

"Oookay, today is your _second _lucky day," Kacie rephrased. "I've got a guy for you."

"She'll take him," Gigi said quickly.

"No I won't," Lily said and then turned to Kacie. "I don't know, I'm not a fan of blind dates."

"Trust me, he's perfect for you," Kacie insisted.

"She'll take him," Gigi answered.

"Slow down there Gi," Lily said and then turned back to Kacie. "What makes him perfect?"

"He's gorgeous, he's sensitive, and he's available," Kacie said.

"She'll take him," Gigi said.

"Gi! Stop!" Lily exclaimed and then turned to Kacie. "I'll take him."

From across the way James was groaning. "Why does she have to be so peppy? It's 8 in the morning. What could _possibly _be going well at 8 in the morning?"

"Ugh, just forget about her okay?" Sirius pleaded. "I am _tired _of hearing Lily is so awful. Lily is so terrible. Lily is such a bitch."

"Lily _is _such a bitch," James insisted.

"I totally understand why Lily hates you," Remus muttered.

"What? Why?" James asked.

"Because all you so is whine and complain," Remus said.

"I do not!" James insisted and then looked over at Lily. "Ugh! She's smiling again…that's so annoying!"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "You're right, you _never _whine or complain," Sirius said sarcastically. "James, can I ask you a question?"

"No."

Sirius paused and then shrugged. "When has that stopped me before? Why is it that all I ever hear about anymore is Lily? And yet you're going out with _Nancie._ How come I don't ever hear anything about her?"

"For the last time, Nancie and I aren't going out, we're-"

"Just friends with benefits," Sirius concluded. "I know, I know. But why don't we ever hear about her? I'm tired of only hearing about Lily and never hearing about Nancie."

"Nancie and I had sex last night," James said.

"So, we hate Lily huh?" Sirius asked. James rolled his eyes and went back to scowling at Lily.

* * *

"His name is Geoff," Kacie said. "He's from Hufflepuff." 

"How come I haven't heard of him?" Lily asked.

"Because he's new," Kacie said. "He's perfect for you."

"Fine," Lily said with a shrug.

James was walking down the hallways when he heard this conversation. He groaned and walked back to the Gryffindor commons room.

He walked up to Sirius and said, "How do you ask a girl out?"

"Simple, you open the door and tell her to get out, go away, get the hell away from you," Sirius said with a shrug. James gave him a look. "Oooh, you mean ask a girl _out _out."

"Duh."

"Well I usually flash my gorgeous smile, and girls tend to know that means wanna go out Saturday night," Sirius said.

"What happens when you wink at them?"

"That means that you should stay out of the bedroom," Sirius said with a sly grin.

Remus rolled his eyes and tried hard to ignore Sirius. "James, why do you need to know how to ask a girl out?" Remus asked.

"Because I think it's about time to ask Nancie out on a real date. It's stupid to just be friends with benefits, we should actually be _dating_," James said with a shrug.

"Why?"

"What do you mean _why_?" James asked.

"What I mean is what is making you do this," Remus said. "You've never had a real girlfriend."

"That's not true!"

"For longer than a week," Remus finished.

James opened his mouth to protest. "You got me there."

* * *

"I hate studying," James groaned the next afternoon in the Gryffindor Commons Room. 

"Who _doesn't?_" Peter asked.

"I hate essay writing," Sirius added.

"Maybe if you had done it two weeks ago when it was assigned, you wouldn't be sitting here doing it the night before it's due," James said.

"Yes, but if I had done so two weeks ago that would imply that I am not a procrastinator," Sirius said. "And that implication would be dead wrong."

"Don't we know it," Remus muttered.

It was quiet as James read the chapter assigned, Sirius wrote an essay, Peter studied for an upcoming test, and Remus reread the notes he took in one of his classes.

Finally, Peter spoke up, throwing his pencil down in frustration. "I'm sorry, but who really needs to know about an external urethral sphincter?"

"External urethral sphincter?" James asked. "Wow, _that's_ a mouthful."

"Yeah, if you're _lucky,_ it is," Sirius said with a wink.

James looked at Sirius in disgust. "Did you just wink at me?"

"I really need more girl friends," Sirius said.

"You're an idiot Sirius," James muttered.

"I'm not an idiot," Sirius pouted and then looked down at his essay. "Crap...what's another word for small?"

"Little," James responded.

"Tiny," Peter added.

"Petite," Remus said.

"Thanks," Sirius said and then looked back up at James. "Now, what was I saying? Oh right, I am _not_ an idiot!"

James looked over at Sirius's parchment. "You spell little with two t's."

"And idiot is spelled with one t," Remus mumbled and all the guys laughed.

"I'll be back, I have to get some more notes from my room," Sirius said. He passed Kacie and Lily studying and stopped to bother them. "Whatcha guys up to?"

"Already finished with that essay due tomorrow, that's for sure," Lily teased.

"Okay, I get it. I procrastinate!" Sirius exclaimed. "Hey, where's Giliba?"

"Awww, look at that. Sirius actually cares where Gigi is," Kacie teased.

"No I don't," Sirius said. "It's just more fun to make fun of her when she's actually _here._"

Lily and Kacie rolled their eyes and went back to studying. Sirius shrugged and went up to his room.

Sirius opened the door to his room. "AGH!"

Gigi whirled around. "Oh, hi," she said innocently. "Um…sorry for scaring you."

"No, you didn't scare me. I just thought you were a girl I left in here and forgot about," Sirius said. Gigi gave him a weird look. "Hey, it _has_ happened."

"I don't doubt it," she mumbled.

"So what _are _you doing in here?" Sirius demanded to know.

Gigi shrugged. "No reason."

"Okay, you can't just barge into my room and not tell me what you're doing here," Sirius exclaimed.

"Doesn't matter," Gigi said. "I'm leaving."

Sirius ran over to the door and blocked it. "No…you're going to tell me why you're here."

"Why the hell do you _care_?" Gigi asked.

"Because my enemy is snooping through my stuff!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Don't flatter yourself," Gigi said haughtily. "I'm looking through Peter and Remus's stuff."

"You are not," Sirius accused. "Seriously, what the hell are you doing in here?"

"Remember that night when we…" Gigi trailed off.

"When we what?" Sirius asked.

"You know very well what I'm talking about," Gigi said.

"Hmmm, nope, I have no idea," Sirius said.

"Oh c'mon! We kinda…" Gigi trailed off again.

"We kinda what?"

"We had sex!" Gigi exclaimed, throwing her hands up in frustration.

Sirius grinned. "Yeah, I totally knew what you were talking about."

Gigi glared at him. "I wouldn't doubt it if you didn't have any idea what I was talking about. You have sex with every living thing. It's hard to keep track."

"Hey, that is _not _true!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Yes it is! You only have sex to fulfill _your _needs. You don't give a damn about anyone else's feelings!" Gigi cried out.

"That is so _not _true!" Sirius cried out. "You don't know me at _all _so stop making assumptions!"

"Assumptions?" Gigi cried out. "I'm speaking from _experience!_"

"What the hell are you _talking _about Giliba?" Sirius cried out, placing his hands on his hips.

"Does sleeping with another girl not even 24 _hours _after having sex with me ring a bell?" Gigi burst out.

Sirius stopped all movement. "You-you-what?"

Gigi sighed. "I saw you kissing Hayden just a few hours after we…well, you know."

"Yeah, but-"

"And then I saw you bring her up to your room," Gigi said.

"Okay, but-"

"And then I overheard James and Peter talking about you and Hayden having sex," Gigi finished.

"Yeah, but you don-"

"Save it," Gigi cut off. "I don't really want to hear what you have to say about it." And with that she shoved Sirius out of the way and left the room.

Sirius stood there trying to comprehend what just happened. "She never told me what she was doing in my room." Sirius shook his head, annoyed at himself for caring. He grabbed his notes, and walked back downstairs.

Sirius groaned as he plopped down next to James. He turned to him and said, "Please do something stupid this weekend."

"Why?" James asked.

"I need someone to mock."

"Mock yourself," James said with a shrug.

"God _knows _there are a lot of things you could mock about you," Remus added.

"The point is to make me feel _better_," Sirius said.

"Oh," Remus said.

"Then I guess bringing up that time you gave Gigi a strip dance when you were drunk would not be a good thing to bring up right now?" James asked.

Sirius glared at him. "You better do something _really _stupid this weekend." He snuck a peek at Gigi sitting next to Lily and Kacie. She glanced up at him with no expression on her face and then went back to talking to Lily and Kacie.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

_So now you know why Sirius and Gigi hate each other so much...will they ever become friends? And what about Lily and James...will they ever become nice to each other again? review and find out!_


	5. Bowling, Eye Flirting and Wool Underwear

**_Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 5_**

_So you finally found out what happened between Gigi and Sirius...will they ever settle their differences? And will James and Lily once again learn how to be nice to each other? And will you review after reading this chapter? (i hope so!)_

_Disclaimer: you know how this goes. and if you don't...read previous chapters._

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"You're first date is Halloween! That's so romantic!" Kacie squealed. Gigi and Lily gave her an annoyed look. "What? I don't have any guys in my life right now, I have to live my fantasies through you."

"Honey, if you want a _real _fantasy to come true, you should live them through _me_," Gigi offered.

"I said _fantasy_. Not sex dream," Kacie mumbled.

"Ooooh, okay…then yeah, I would live them through Lily," Gigi said. "And since when was Halloween romantic"

"It's a holiday," Kacie said with a shrug.

"Where people dress up as ogres and witches," Gigi said. "But if you're into the whole green warty thing, then yeah it's _really _romantic."

"Well Ms. Smarty Pants, what day do _you _call romantic?" Kacie asked.

"Valentine's Day," Gigi said.

"Why? All you get is flowers and candy and cards and…ooh okay, I am starting to see the romance part," Kacie said.

Lily laughed at her friends and walked out of her room, where she bumped right into James and Sirius.

"So Lily, it's Halloween," James noted. "Breaking out the plaid uniform, white knee socks,and putting your hair in pigtails and going as a virgin again?"

"Actually, I was thinking about going as a rich snob…can I borrow your clothes?" Lily snapped.

"You should wear a thong and go as 'hot,'" Sirius said with a grin.

Lily just ignored Sirius and looked at James. "For your information, not like it's any of your business, but I'm going bowling."

James snorted. "Bowling? What respectful teenager goes bowling?"

"I'm not going to sit here and talk to you about the word respectful when you think a respectful teenager is someone who has sex whenever possible," Lily snapped.

"At least I'm satisf-"

"If you know what's good for you, _don't _finish that sentence," Lily sneered.

"Ja-_ames_," a high pitched giggly voice called out from James's room.

Lily groaned and turned around to walk back to her roomwhen she heard a knock on the portrait hole.

"Crap," Lily muttered. She turned to James. "Potter, I know we hate each other but if you had any ounce of decency, you wouldn't let him in quite yet."

James opened the door and let him in.

"I _knew_ I should have asked the slut inyour room," Lily mumbled to James. "Hey Geoff."

"Hey Lily, you look pretty," Geoff said.

"She's not even done getting dressed," James muttered.

"Huh?" Geoff asked.

"You should see her in the morning," James said.

Lily glared at James. "Go away Potter."

"It'll be my pleasure," James said, going back into his room.

"Ignore Potter," Lily said.

"Does he have a firstname?" Geoff asked, even though everyone in the school knew who he was.

"Not one that we like to acknowledge," Lily said.

"So is this weird to you?" Geoff asked.

"Bowling? Or being set up with a complete stranger?" Lily asked.

"Hey, I'm not a complete stranger," Geoff said. "I'm nineteen and have blue eyes."

"The mysteries of the world are now solved!" Lily exclaimed with a laugh. "And your eyes are green."

Geoff paused. "Oh yeah."

"You don't seem like the kind of guy who would break the rules and take me off the premises of Hogwarts," Lily said.

Geoff laughed. "Okay, so maybe I _am _a complete stranger to you."

Lily laughed but cringed when she heard a familiar laugh. She turned to see Nancie and James coming through the door. "Ugh," she muttered.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Lily mumbled. "It's just that hell walked through the door."

"Hmm, that's funny," Geoff said, looking at Nancie. "I always thought hell wouldn't look that gorgeous." Lily glared at him. "But then again, James isn't _that _gorgeous." Lily rolled her eyes, but there was a hint of a smile on her face.

* * *

"I'll be right back," Lily said through gritted teeth and then stomped over to James. "What the hell are you _doing _here Potter?" 

"Oh, hey Lily," James said, turning around. "I didn't know you were going bowling."

"Yes you did! I _told _you," Lily hissed.

"Oh yeah…" James said and then shrugged. "It must have slipped my mind."

"You're here to purposely try and ruin my date," Lily pointed out.

"Not true! For your information, it was Nancie's idea to come here. She's a champion bowler," James said.

"Okay, so how many of these pin thingy's do I have to knock down in order to get a home run?" Nancie asked, coming over to stand next to James.

"Champion bowler huh?" Lily muttered. "More like champion _ditz_."

"Hey!" James exclaimed. "You can't call her a ditz!"

Lily glared at James. "Who said I was talking about _her?_" And then Lily walked back over to Geoff.

"You two don't get along much do you?" Geoff asked.

"What gives you thatidea?" Lily asked sarcastically.

"The yelling, glaring, name calling, oh and the vein popping out of your head that says 'I hate James,'" Geoff said. Lily laughed.

* * *

"I'm so sorry," Lily apologized. 

"Lily, it's okay," Geoff said. "I think after the tenth 'I'm sorry,' I pretty much understand that you're sorry."

"I don't know what got into him."

Geoff smiled at Lily. "I do."

"Huh?" Lily asked.

"He likes you," Geoff said with a shrug.

Lily looked at Geoff and burst out laughing. "Oh believe me, he doesn't like me."

"Why else would he pour soda down my front, trip me, and ignore his date all night long?"

"Because he's mentally unstable," Lily said.

Geoff shook his head. "It's okay if he likes you, I don't reall-"

"He doesn't like me," Lily repeated. "If he liked me, why would he go out with another girl the day after kissing me?" Lily mentally kicked herself for bringing that up.

"So you guys kissed huh?" Geoff asked.

"No," Lily said.

"But you just said-" Geoff said.

"Did I say James was mentally unstable? I meant _I _am mentally unstable," Lily said.

Geoff rolled his eyes. "So you like him but then he used you so now you hate him."

"That's not completely tr-"

"And James liked you but he thought you hated him because let's face it, everyone in this school knew you had some feud going on, so he went out with another girl, thinking it was what _you _would want," Geoff said.

"Okay, how do you know that?" Lily asked. "Either you're a stalker or just _really _intuitive."

"Neither. It's because I'm a guy."

"Ahh, my _next _guess," Lily said.

"I know how he thinks," Geoff said with a shrug.

"I didn't realize anyone could understand how James thinks. In fact, I didn't realize he _could _think," Lily joked.

"How about we just call it a night?" Geoff asked. "I mean we can-" but before he could get another word out, Lily reached up and grabbed his neck, bringing her lips to his. When they broke apart Geoff said, "How about I see you tomorrow?" Lily laughed, nodded, and then went into the commons room.

"How was your date?" Gigi asked.

"I _hate _Potter," Lily said, flopping down on the couch.

"I thought you were on a date with _Geoff_," Kacie said.

"He just makes me so _mad_," Lily seethed.

"Geoff or James?" Gigi asked.

"He just comes in there with Nancie by his side and a huge smug smile on his face," Lily muttered.

Gigi and Kacie looked at each other. "James."

Just then James walked in and Gigi immediately got up. "Run James, _run!_"

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Lily shouted at James.

"_Run,_" Gigi hissed.

Lily just stomped into the room and slammed the door.

James turned to Kacie and Gigi. "Do you think she's mad at me?" he asked sarcastically.

"Noooo," Gigi said rolling her eyes. "Slamming the door doesn't mean she's mad. If she starts yelling at you, _then _she's mad."

Lily came out of the room. "You are _such _an asshole Potter!"

James looked over at Gigi who said, "Yup, she's mad."

"What are you talking about, Evans?" James asked innocently.

"You spilled soda all over my date!" Lily cried out.

"That was an accident!" James confirmed.

"You _tripped _him every chance you got!"

James paused. "That was _not _an accident."

"None of it was!" Lily burst out. "I told you to leave me alone Potter! And you show up to chaperone my dateWhat the hell is _wrong _with you?" Lily stomped into her room and slammed the door once again.

Gigi looked up at James. "Yup, she is _definitely _mad."

* * *

"I purposely ruined Lily's date this weekend," James said. 

Sirius looked up from his book. "I said do something _stupid _this weekend. Not something that would get you _killed_!"

"Who said I'm getting killed?"

"Oh, Lily _will _kill you," Sirius said.

James groaned and put his head in his hands. "Well to be fair…I didsomething that allows you to mock me for the rest of my life."

Sirius thought about that and grinned. "My strip dance will _totally _be forgotten!"

James and Sirius went back to listening to the teacher.

Eventually, James turned back to Sirius. "She completely hates me now."

"Shhh, I'm trying to pay attention," Sirius muttered, looking up at the professor.

Remus, Peter, and James all turned to Sirius in awe. "Um…_what?_"

Sirius looked up and cracked a smile. "Just kidding…but the looks on your faces totally made that worth it."

James hit Sirius over the head. "Did you hear what I said?"

Sirius nodded. "Of _course _she completely hates you. Haven't we established this already? She's hated you for years. Why are we going through this again?" Sirius looked back at the professor and whispered to James, "Now, stop talking and pay attention."

"I spilled soda on her date, tripped him whenever possible, and even got Nancie to hit on Geoff," James whispered.

"What? Keep talking!" Sirius exclaimed.

James shrugged. "Lily slammed the door and called me an asshole."

"Which seems to be an understatement," Sirius said.

"And now she hates me so much, she's skipping classes we have together so she doesn't have to see me," James said.

"What? Lily's not here?" Sirius asked, glancing over at Lily's empty seat. "Hmm…Lily's not here."

"Did I notjust say that?" James asked.

"I'm sure she isn't skipping because of _you_," Sirius said.

"This note from Gigi saying 'Lily isn't here in class because she's avoiding you' contradicts that statement Padfoot," James said.

"Maybe Giliba is talking about another Lily," Sirius said with a shrug. James glared at him. "Hey, I'm trying to be positive!"

* * *

"I love my life!" Lily exclaimed, skipping into the Great Hall. 

"That's nice," Gigi said, obviously not listening to Lily.

"Um, hello?" Lily asked.

"Shh," Gigi exclaimed.

Lily shrugged and kept talking. "Before today, I always thought that I was being punished with the life I was given. I mean, it used to be World than Lily. Now it's Lily, World."

"Hey Lily world? How bout you move your Lily legs before I kick your Lily butt?" Gigi asked.

"Fair enough," Lily said, sitting down. "What's with her?"

"She's eye flirting," Kacie said with a shrug.

"_Eye _flirting?" Lily questioned.

"She thinks that if she blinks and winks a certain number of times, that will give Freddie the signal to come over and talk to her," Kacie said with a shrug.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Lily said.

"Shhh," Gigi hissed.

"We don't need to be quiet if all you're doing is using your _eyes, _Gi," Kacie said.

Gigi paused. "Oh yeah." Freddie turned back to his friend. "Ugh, you guys officially suck." Gigi stared at Lily intently. "Your eyes are prettier than mine."

Lily glanced over at Freddie. "Freddie's vision sucks. He probably can't see the difference between your mouth and your eyes."

Gigi looked at Lily. "You tell me that now? I spent the last twenty minutes eye flirting with someone who can't see me!"

Kacie rolled her eyes. "Hey, I saw that!" Gigi accused.

"I _know_. Unlike Freddie, you _can _see my eyes," Kacie said.

"And it's not your eyes the guys look at Gi," Lily noted. "They usually look a little more south."

Gigi looked down at her chest. "Yeah, but I'm wearing robes. They can't see down south."

The girls laughed and Gigi turned to Lily. "Okay, so why is your life so wonderful?"

"Geoff asked me out again," Lily squealed.

"Even after everything James did?" Kacie asked.

Lily shrugged. "Apparently I'm a really good kisser."

Gigi and Kacie gave her a blank stare. "No really, how'd you get him to ask you out again?"

Lily laughed and dug into her lunch. "Nothing can ruin my mood today."

"Hey guys," James said, as he walked by with all the Marauders.

Lily groaned. "And evidently I'm wrong."

"Are you going to eat that roll?" Sirius asked Lily.

Lily looked up at him. "You mean the one that I just brought up to my mouth?"

"Yeah," Sirius said. Lily rolled her eyes and Sirius waited for her to answer. "No really, are you going to eat that?"

Lily licked the roll.

"Maybe I'll just get my own roll…" Sirius said.

"Good idea," Gigi said. "Oh, and I hear the rolls all the way at the end of the table are best."

"I get the slightest feeling we're not wanted," Remus noted.

"No, no. You're wanted," Gigi said and then looked up at James and Sirius "_They're _not wanted."

The boys shrugged and went to sit down on the opposite side of the table.

* * *

"Blue tank top with black skirt," Gigi offered. 

"It's winter!" Lily cried out.

"Oh right," Gigi said. "Blue tank top with jeans."

"It's winter!" Lily repeated.

"Oh, so what do you suggest? Wool underwear and a sweatshirt?" Gigi asked.

"It's more reasonable," Lily muttered.

"Ask the guys," Kacie said. "They know what clothes they like on their girlfriends."

"You mean _nothing?_" Lily pointed out.

Kacie paused. "Oh come on, they won't say that."

Kacie walked out of Lily's room. "Hey Si, if you were going on a date with Lily, what would you want her to wear?"

Sirius thought about it. "Lingerie."

Kacie walked back in and shrugged. "See, I toldyou he wouldn't say nothing."

"Actually, why bother wearing anything at all?" Sirius shouted to Kacie.

Kacie gave an innocent look. "Spoke too soon."

In the commons room, James turned to Sirius. "Why are they asking your advice on Lily's clothes?"

"I think Lily's going out with some guy," Sirius said with a shrug, not looking up from his book.

"What?" James exclaimed. "What guy?"

"Probably the guy from the other night," Sirius said.

"Even after I…" James trailed off.

Sirius looked up from his book. "After you completely ruined their date?" James looked sheepish. "I guess Lily is one smooth talker."

"You mean one smooth kisser," James muttered.

"That too." Sirius turned to him. "But _you're _the one who would know that."

James choseto ignore Sirius's comment. "Ugh, how could she go out with this John guy?" James mumbled.

"Geoff," Sirius corrected.

"Him too," James said and then paused. "Wait, she's seeing _two _guys?" James growled. "What a slut."

"No, she's seeing _one _guy. His name is Geoff not John," Sirius explained.

"Oh," James said. "She's still a slut."

"James, you've seen up to five girls at once," Sirius said.

"Well that's totally different."

"How?" Sirius asked.

James paused. "I'm a guy."

Remus looked up and frowned. "You mean you're a pig."

James thought about that and shrugged. "Same thing."

James got up and went to Lily's room. He knocked on the door. Kacie opened it a crack. "Yes?"

"Is Lily here?"

Kacie poked her head around the door. "Lily, it's James." Lily shook her head violently back and forth. Kacie turned her head back to James. "She's not here."

"Didn't you just say her name?" James asked.

"What? No," Kacie said quickly.

"Yes you did!"

"I call everyone Lily," Kacie said with a shrug.

"Can't I just-"

"Bye Lily!" Kacie said to James, pushing him out the door and shutting it in his face.

James sighed and trudged back to the commons room. Remus looked up. "Didn't go well?"

James shook his head. "But apparently my name is Lily."

Sirius and Remus exchanged confused looks. "I'm not even going to try understanding."

Back in Lily's room, Kacie shut the door and turned to Lily. "You still content on the whole hating James thing huh?"

"Content is an understatement," Lily muttered.

"Come on, what exactly did he do to you that was _so _horrible?" Kacie asked.

"Kissed me, then went out with another girl the next night, felt it was o_kay _to do so, showed up on my date last weekend and completely ruined it…on _purpose_," Lily said. "And then there's the little thing where he's a complete arrogant pig."

Gigi looked up. "Sounds like my kind of guy."

Kacie ignored her and turned to Lily. "And you call that _horrible?_" Kacie asked sarcastically.

Lily paused. "You're right," Lily said. "Horrible doesn't even be_gin _to describe him."

"It describes Black though," Gigi muttered.

"Am I the only one who doesn'thate a Marauder?" Kacie asked.

"I don't know…Remus took that last piece of bacon at breakfast this morning and you were pretty angry about that," Gigi said.

"Oh yeah," Kacie said. "I _hate _that guy." Kacie laughed at her sarcasm. "Oooh, red shirt with black pants looks good!"

Lily turned to Gigi for her opinion. Gigi shrugged. "I still say blue tank top and black skirt."

"It's wi-"

"If you say it's winter one more time, I'm gonna kill you and therefore it won't matter whatyou wear on this date," Gigi said.

Lily thought about what to say. "It's freezing outside."

Gigi groaned and threw a pillow at Lily. Lily threw the pillow back at her. "Okay, you guys need to get out or I will _never _get dressed."

"Geoff will probably like that better," Kacie noted.

"Out!" Lily cried out, pointing to the door.

"That's the last time I help you get dressed," Gigi mumbled as she walked out the door.

"You weren't helping!" Lily cried out after her.

"Just because youdon't want to freeze doesn't mean I wasn't helping," Gigi said.

"Go away!" Lily cried out with a laugh.

Gigi and Kacie plopped down on the ground in the commons room.

"She kicked ya out huh?" Sirius asked.

"No, we decided to leave," Kacie said with a shrug.

"We heard her yell 'out!'" Remus said.

"We were talking about baseball," Gigi said.

"We heard her yell 'go away!'" Sirius noted.

"Oh…" Kacie said. "Then yes, we were kicked out."

"What's the big deal anyway?" James muttered.

"A date to any girl is a big deal," Gigi said.

"Do girls talk about what make up to put on, what clothes to wear, and how to act before going on dates with us?" Sirius asked.

"No," Gigi said. "They talk about how many ways they can kill themselves during the date."

"And we weren't talking about make up ever," Kacie said.

"Hey Gi?" Lily called out from her room. "Do you have my strawberry lip gloss?"

"No!" she cried out. Kacie turned back to the group. "And apparently I have once again spoken too soon."

"Maybe you should just stop speaking altogether," Sirius suggested.

"Maybe _you_ should," Gigi muttered.

It was quiet for a few seconds. "So what's Lily gonna wear?" Sirius asked.

"Wow, you lasted a whole five seconds," Gigi muttered.

"That was five seconds longer than _I _thought," Remus noted.

"Me too," James added.

"Me three," Kacie said.

"You don't think I can stay quiet?" Sirius asked.

"No," everyone answered in unison.

"I can stay quiet," Sirius protested. Everyone looked at him as he shut his mouth. He looked up to Lily's door. "So really, what's she gonna wear?"

"Who cares," James grumbled.

"_Some_one's in a good mood," Gigi said sarcastically.

Lily came out just then and everyone turned to look at her. "Well, I'm glad to see you're not wearing wool underwear and a sweatshirt," Gigi said. Lily was wearing a V-neck red top with tiny beads at the top, and casual black pants.

"What do you think?" Lily asked the girls.

"Got a hot date, huh Lily?" Remus asked.

"No…but Geoff does," Lily said with a wink.

"I personally like the idea of wool underwear better," James mumbled.

"And that's why I didn't ask you," Lily said.

"Isn't that top a little revealing?" Sirius asked.

"Why do you care?" Lily wondered. "Your dates usually wear much less than this."

Sirius stopped. "Good point."

There was a knock on the portrait hole and everyone looked up at the entrance way. Lily walked over to it and let Geoff in. Geoff entered to see everyone grinning up at him. He turned to Lily. "Are they always this frightening?"

"No," Lily said. "They're usually worse."

Before anyone could say anything, Lily grabbed Geoff's hand and led him out of the room. It grew quiet until James spoke up, "I don't like him."

"You don't _know _him," Sirius pointed out.

"All I know is that he doesn't like coke spilled down his front," James said. "And I don't like that."

"James," Gigi said. "_No _one likes soda spilled down their front."

"Okay that is sooobeside the point," James said. He groaned and got up.

"Where are you going?" Sirius asked.

"I'm going out with Nancie tonight," James said with a shrug. He grabbed a jacket and headed out the door.

Remus looked around the room. "Does anyone else find it weird that the only two people not here are the only two people who _live _here?"

"Hmmm, that is weird," Gigi said and then turned to the guys. "Why don't you leave?"

"I think he was suggesting that we _all _leave," Sirius said.

"And I'msuggesting that just _you _leave," Gigi said.

"Fair enough," Sirius said. "I don't want to be here when James brings Nancie back anyway."

"What makes you think he'll bring her back here?" Kacie asked.

"Because he's a Marauder," Sirius said with a shrug. "It's what we do."

"Hey, there is no _we _here," Remus said. "It's what youand Jamesdo."

"What about Summer Anston?" Sirius asked.

Remus paused and then turned to the girls. "It's what we do."

"Although I'm not sure that counts," Sirius said. "You were completely wasted."

"That's what happens when I insist that I don't want to drink and you spike my juice…nine times," Remus said.

Sirius thought about that and then burst out laughing. "You were so wasted!"

"So are we leaving?" Kacie asked.

The four of them exchanged looks. "This couch wantsus to sit on it. It's _meant _to be sat on. It'll be upset if we get up. It will-" Sirius started.

"We can stay here if you just _shut up_," Remus begged.

It grew quiet for a few seconds. "So Lily's outfit was reallyslutty huh?" Sirius asked.

"Hey, that was _my _shirt," Gigi argued.

"Oh, then let me rephrase that," Sirius said. "Lily's outfit was _definitely _slutty."

* * *

"Wow, the stars are really bright tonight huh?" Geoff asked. 

Lily smiled. "Yeah, they're pretty."

Geoff smiled back at her. "The Quidditch pitch looks so empty."

Lily groaned and Geoff turned to her. "What?"

"Nothing, I just hate Quidditch," Lily said with a shrug.

"Why?"

"Because it's all Potter ever talks about," Lily said. "And after listening to him go on and on about the perfect broom, Quidditch is the last thing I want to talk about."

Geoff shrugged. "Okay, well then what do you think we should talk about?"

"Nothing doing with Quidditch, food, money, pranks, or girls," Lily mumbled.

"Well that leaves us talking about classes…and dirt," Geoff joked.

"We're safer off with dirt. Potter actually does _well _in his classes," Lily said. "Can you believe that? How can someone as idiotic as him do _well_?"

"I don't know," Geoff mumbled.

"He probably cheats," Lily said. "God _knows _he's good at cheating. He cheats on every one of his girlfriends."

"Okay, but Lily?" Geoff asked.

"Or maybe he gets one of his girlfriends to do the homework for him. Although his girlfriends don't have any brains themselves, so he wouldn't be doing well in his classes. Maybe he pays Dumbledore, that's probably how he became Head Boy also."

"Uh Lily?" Geoff asked.

"How does he have time for homework when all he does is hang out with girls?" Lily muttered. "And make my life miserable. And play pranks on…" Lily trailed off thinking about the last time they played a prank. She shook her head to get the thought out of her mind. "Well, whatever."

Geoff turned to Lily. "This isn't working."

"Well no kidding," Lily said. "Potter and I _never _got along. Everyone knows that we don't work well together but no-"

"No, I'm not talking about you and James," Geoff said. "I'm talking about us."

"Huh?"

"You're still hung up on James," Geoff said calmly.

Lily stopped and turned to Geoff. "Ex_cuse _me?"

"Lily, you've spent this whole date talking about James," Geoff said. "It's okay if you still like him, I do-"

"I do _not _like Potter," Lily insisted.

"Then why do you spend all day talking about him?"

"Because he annoys me so much," Lily said.

"Well, whatever reason it is, we're not working," Geoff said.

"If you don't want to be with me, you didn't have to make up some lame excuse about me liking Potter," Lily said.

"That's not it. You just-"

"Look, it doesn't matter okay?" Lily said. "Have a nice life Geoff." And with that, Lily stomped off in the opposite direction.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

_Is Geoff right? Does Lily still like James? And what happens next chapter when James tries to prove to Lily that he doesn't hate her. In fact, he tries to show her that when they decided to be civil towards each other (in previous chapters)that he really was being sincere. Review and I'll post the next chapter! (but i want at least 10, if not 15, reviews!)_


	6. You're a Smart Girl, You Figure it Out

**_Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 6_**

_thanks to Opalfire, TickleMepInK21, xXyousuckatlifeXx, curvychick, riduculouslyriddikulus, Jessica, Mister Bigbucks, ILoveFredWesley, trocle, jade, aznbeez, mauraders-rule, and ByeByeBirdie for reviewing chapter 5... now onto chapter 6_

_disclaimer: read previous chapters if you're not sure if I'm JK Rowling or not._

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Lily stomped back into her common room and exclaimed, "I hate Potter!" and then went into her room and slammed the door shut.

"Okay she _seriously _needs to learn the difference between James and Geoff," Kacie said.

"Lily!" Gigi cried out, trying to get Lily to come out of her room. After a few minutes, Lily finally trudged out of the room and started pacing in front of the other four.

"Potter wasn't even _there _and he ruined my date," Lily said.

"I'm sure he'd be proud to hear that," Sirius said. Lily glared at him. "Right, right. This isn't a joking matter."

"Get this," Lily said. "Geoff thinks I _like _Potter."

Everyoneexchanged looks. "Um, well…"

"What?" Lily asked. "Why did you all look at each other?"

"Lily…" Gigi said slowly. "Perhaps you _do _li-"

"If you tell me that I like Potter, I'm never returning this shirt to you," Lily said.

Gigi's mouth hung open, deciding whether or not to continue with her sentence but then she shut her mouth. "You're lucky that's my favorite shirt."

"He just makes me so _mad_," Lily seethed. "He ruins my dates on purpose _and _unintentionally when he's not even _there!_"

"Okay, but that's not his fault," Sirius pointed out.

"Of _course _it is," Lily exclaimed, pacing faster. "He does everything he can to annoy me so of course I'm angry all day and then I can't stop thinking of ways to pay him back. My entire day is spent thinking of how to get Potter back."

"So basically you think about James all day long?" Sirius asked.

"Be_lieve _me, that's not a good thing," Lily said. "Unless thinking of ten different ways to remove his arms from his body is a good thing."

"Well that depends," Sirius said.

"On what?" Lily demanded to know.

"On whether he likesgetting his arms removed from his body," Sirius said.

"He needs his arms. It's how he removes the clothes from Nancie's body," Remus said. Everyone looked at him in shock. "What? Only Sirius is allowed to make the sexual innuendos?"

"Yes," they all answered.

"Oh…just checking," Remus said.

"Plus it's reallyhard to be the Quidditch seeker with no arms," Gigi said.

"He can use his mouth to catch the snitch," Lily said. "Maybe he'll shut up if he has a snitch in his mouth."

"I doubt it," Sirius noted.

Lily glared at him. "You couldn't give me this one dream, could ya?"

Sirius shrugged. "I'm a realist. I tell it like it is."

"So yesterday when you said you thought you could possibly get the Hexel triplets to all strip for you, you were being a _realist?_" Remus asked.

"Hey, it could happen!" Sirius insisted.

James walked in at that moment and everyone turned to look at him. "What?" he asked.

Lily glared at him and stomped to her room, slamming the door behind her.

James looked back to the group. "She seems mad."

Gigi and Kacie rolled their eyes and followed Lily into her room.

James slumped down on the couch. "What did I do now?"

"Nothing," Remus said. "That's the problem."

"Okay, so let me get this straight. I bother her and she hates me. Then, I try and leave her alone and she still hates me?" James asked.

"Exactly," Sirius said.

"That girl is one complicated person," James muttered.

"Actually, she's not that complicated. It's quite easy to sum everything up. No matter what you do, she will always hate you," Sirius said. James turned his head to glare at Sirius. "I'm not helping am I?"

"No…but what's new about that?" Remus answered.

Back in her room, Lily was pacing back and forth complaining about James. "No matter what he does, it bothers me. Why is it that everything he does annoys me so much?" Gigi opened her mouth but Lily pointed her finger at her. "If you say it's because I like him, I'm ripping this sweater up."

Gigi turned to Kacie. "I think it's safer if you talk to her."

"Yeah, I'm not stupid enough to let her borrow my clothes," Kacie teased.

There was a knock on the door and Gigi and Kacie could see the look of anger in Lily's eyes. "Maybe it's not James…" Gigi said.

"Evans! It's James," James cried out.

"Maybe it's a different James," Gigi said with a shrug.

"Or maybe I should say it's Potter," James said.

"Maybe he'll forget that you're mad at him," Gigi said.

"I know you're mad at me, but I just want to talk to you," James exclaimed.

"Maybe he'll go away," Gigi whispered.

"I'm coming in!" James cried out.

"Well, my work here is done," Gigi said.

James came in and Lily and James just had a glaring contest.

"Is it possible for someone to die from a glare?" Kacie whispered to Gigi.

"No because if it was possible, Black would have died a long time ago," Gigi whispered back.

"Okay, I give! What did I do this time?" James asked.

Lily turned to her two best friends, as if to say 'aren't you going to leave?'

"Oh right," Gigi said. "We're leaving." Gigi and Kacie got up from the bed and left the room.

Lily turned to James. "Do you _try _making my life a living hell?"

"No…that's just a perk," James said.

"Well whatever you do, it bothers me. Everything you do, you do it to annoy me. Why _is _that?" Lily demanded to know.

"Evans, I walk out of my room and you're annoyed by that. I pick up a book, and it bothers you. I sit silently in class, and you're aggravated. It's not my fault my existence bothers you but I'm not going to go jump off a cliff so you're happy again," James said. Lily opened her mouth to retort. "Don't even _think _about suggesting a possible cliff."

Lily sighed. "Okay, but you have to admit that some things you do, you do them just to bug me."

"Name one thing," James said.

"Purposely running my date with Geoff last weekend, putting dungbombs in my pillowcase, telling me the wrong time for our meeting with Dumbledore, dumping coffee on my homework, throwing-" Lily started.

"Okay, okay," James mumbled. "I said _one_ thing."

"Why do you do all those things?" Lily asked.

"Because," James said.

"Because _why?_"

"Because you hate me!" James exclaimed.

"Huh?"

"All you do is talk badly about me, and make fun of me, and yell at me, so what do you expect me to do? Sit there and let you get away with it? No, of course not," James said. "I don't like playing pranks on you, but it's all I can think to do after the way you treat me."

Lily's mouth hung wide open. "After the way I treat you _You're_ the womanizer who thinks it's okay to kiss people and ignore them! You're lucky I don't do anything worse to you! I don't see why _you _hate _me."_

"I _don't _hate you!" James cried out. James sighed. "Don't you get it? Evans, I don't do those things because I hate you. I do them because…" James trailed off.

"Because why?" Lily asked.

"Forget it," James said with a shrug, starting to leave her room.

Lily grabbed his arm. "No really, what is it?"

James sighed. "I do things that annoy you because I feel like it's what I have to do."

Lily let go of his arm. "What are you talking about?"

James sighed again. "You wouldn't act any differently if I tried talking to you and explaining what went through my head that night we kissed. You wouldn't say anything different if I just avoided you and didn't bother you."

"What makes you think that?" Lily asked.

"Because I _tried _explaining myself and you completely bit my head off and it's impossible to avoid you because we live in the same room," James said. "Face it Evans, it's better if we just continue making fun of each other and complaining about each other." James walked out the door.

"Wait, Potter?" Lily asked. James poked his head back in to hear what she had to say. "Why do you wantus to get along? I mean, it obviously hasn't worked in the past, so why do you want to talk to me and stop annoying me?"

"You're a smart girl Lily, you figure it out," James said, and then he left.

* * *

"You're a smart girl, you figure it out?" Kacie repeated. "That's all he said?" 

Lily shrugged. "Apparently Potter doesn't like to explain things."

"Well, isn't it obvious what he meant?" Gigi asked.

"If it were, would I be sitting here complaining about how confusing he was?" Lily asked.

"Yes."

Lily paused. "Okay, that's true." Lily sighed. "Well, what's your opinion on this Gi?"

"You know how in elementary school when boys pull your hair and tease you that means they like you?" Gigi asked.

"Okay, in no way is Potter pulling my hair orteasing me," Lily said.

"Okay, stay with me on this one Lily," Gigi said. "He said that he doesn't make fun of you and play pranks on you because he hates you right?" Lily nodded. "So maybe, just _maybe _he's doing it because it gets your attention. And even though you're yelling at him, at least you're not ignoring him."

"So you think he likes me?" Lily clarified.

"Yes."

Lily turned to Kacie. "I need a new opinion."

Kacie shrugged. "I'm with Gigi on this."

"I need new friends," Lily said. "Or the same friends with new opinions. It's easier that way, it's too hard to break in new best friends."

"But it's easier for us to change our opinions?" Kacie asked.

"Yes…because that doesn't involve me doing anything," Lily said. Lily sighed. "So explain this, if Potter does like me, why does he have a girlfriend?"

"Girlfriend?" Gigi asked, raising her eyebrows. "Nancie is _not _his girlfriend. They just go out when they are both bored and then, because he's a guy and can't go two days without any action, they make out and have sex. He's the girl he uses but pretends is you."

Lily gaped at Gigi. "You have _got _to be kidding you."

Lily glanced over at Kacie who shrugged. "I'm still with Gigi on this."

"Well if what you say is true, I don't care. He may like me, but I despise him," Lily said stubbornly.

"We'll see," Gigi murmured.

"What was that?" Lily asked.

"Uh I said, peel Si?" Gigi said.

"_What?_" Lily exclaimed.

"Well, I just hate the guy so much, I'm thinking of taking a carrot peeler and peeling him to death," Gigi said innocently.

"Real smooth," Kacie said, rolling her eyes.

* * *

"Come on James, I'm sure they're not talking about you," Remus insisted. 

"Yeah," Sirius confirmed and then grinned. "They're probably talking about me. I mean, who doesn't want to talk about me?"

"Me," James responded.

"Me," Remus said.

"Me," Peter answered.

Sirius pouted. "And this is why I end up talking about myself all the time."

"It's no wonder people call you self-centered," Remus said, rolling his eyes.

"People? What people?" Sirius asked, obviously alarmed.

"Girl people," Remus said.

Sirius grinned. "Well then it's okay. As long as they're talking about me."

"No, you're not self centered at _all_," Remus said, rolling his eyes.

"Shouldn't we go over there and make them stop bad mouthing me?" James asked.

"Oh yeah because Lily doesn't hate you enough. Let's go interrupt her conversation and make her even more pissed off," Remus said.

James turned to look at Remus. "So…is that a no?"

"And we've already established that she's not talking about you," Peter said.

"Of course she's talking about me," James pouted. "And I'd be flattered if the conversation didn't list the many ways she can cover up my murder."

"Alright, I have a plan," Sirius said. Remus, Peter, and James all shot him a look. "I know, I know. You never thought those words would come out of my mouth right?"

"Not in that order," James clarified.

"Why don't you accidentally throw something over there and then wander over and hear what they're saying," Sirius said.

"Accidentally throw?" Remus asked, raising his eyebrows. "What an oxymoron."

"Who you calling a moron?" Sirius asked.

"Noo, it's a-" Remus looked at the blank look on his face. "Oh never mind. Throwing something over there is a stupid idea."

"You got a better idea?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah I do," Remus said. "Ig_nore _her."

James looked back and forth from Remus to Sirius. "Okay, who's got a quill I can throw?"

* * *

Sirius groaned and rolled over two nights later. He opened his eyes and practically jumped at the sight of someone on the windowsill. "Prongs?" 

James tore his eyes away from looking out the window and glanced over at Sirius. "Hi."

"It's 2 in the morning," Sirius said. "What are you doing?"

"Thinking," James said.

Sirius paused. "No really, what are you doing?"

James rolled his eyes at Sirius and went back to glancing out the window.

"What are you thinking about?" Sirius asked, getting out of bed and joining James on the windowsill.

"Am I really that bad of a guy?" James asked.

"Would I be friends with you if you were?"

"Yes."

Sirius thought about it. "Okay, that's true. But you're really not a bad guy. Why do you ask?"

"The one girl I wish could understand me and actually _like _me hates my guts. And she hates my guts because of something _I _did," James said with a groan.

Sirius paused. "And that makes you a bad person?" James just looked at him. "You're a guy, you make mistakes, it's what we do. You just interpreted the situation wrong and because of that, Lily got mad at you."

"_Really _mad at me," James muttered.

"It seems to me that the only option you have left is to just talk to Lily," Sirius said.

"Oh really?" James asked, raising his eyebrows. "Is that what _you_ usually do in these situations?"

Sirius paused. "No…but Lily wouldn't go for what _I _usually do," Sirius said with a wink.

"Well I don't think talking to Lily is the answer," James said, turning his head to stare back out the window.

"You're right," Sirius said. "Looking out the window and sulking about her is a _much _better solution."

James glared at Sirius and then went back to looking out the window and sighed heavily.

* * *

"How do you do it?" Kacie asked, lying on her stomach on Lily's bed. 

"Do what?" Lily asked, flipping through some witch magazine.

"It's been two weeks since you and James have spoken to each other," Kacie said. "And you live in the same place. How do you do it?"

"It's really not that hard," Lily said with a shrug. "On some days he leaves for classes earlier than I do, and on some days he leaves later. On some days I go down to breakfast early and on other days I go at the last possible second. We do our work in our rooms with the doors shut and whenever we aren't doing work, we go hang out with you guys in your dorms."

"Okay…but why?" Kacie asked.

"Why what?" Lily wondered.

"Why do all of that?" Kacie asked. "Why not just talk to him?"

"Because it's easier this way," Lily said with a shrug.

"It's easy to plan everything you do around his schedule?" Kacie asked.

"Exactly."

"But you guys aren't mad at each other are you? You're just confused and it's awkward, right?" Kacie asked.

"Well yeah, but I'm also still mad at him. You don't just become friends with the guy who has ruined your life for the past seven years. And you certainly don't forgive the guy who used you and completely humiliated you," Lily said with a shrug.

"Is he still going out with Nancie?" Kacie asked.

"Yeah, I think I've heard them in his room these past few weeks," Lily said, not looking up from her magazine.

"And you're okay with this?" Kacie asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Lily wondered.

"I don't know. It seems that after what he said to you, he'd break it off with Nancie," Kacie said with a shrug.

"They're not actually going out. They're just hanging out and having fun," Lily said.

"And having sex and making out whenever possible," Kacie added.

"Well yeah, that too," Lily joked.

"Okay, but are you seriously telling me that-"

"What's with the third degree Kace?" Lily asked, putting her magazine down.

"I'm just trying to understand the situation," Kacie said.

"What's there to understand?" Lily asked. "Potter is embarrassed to be around me because of what he said, I don't like to be around him because I hate his guts, so we avoid each other."

"Okay, but it seems to me that neither one of you should be avoiding each other. It seems to me that both of you have feelings for eac-" Kacie started.

"Don't you _dare _finish that sentence," Lily insisted.

Kacie sighed and sat up in the bed. "Let's go find Gigi."

"She's on a date with whats-his-name," Lily said.

"Who?"

Lily shrugged. "Don't you think that if I knew his name, I would have _said _his name?"

"Good point," Kacie said. "Well, what are the Marauders up to?"

"Peter has detention, Potter is probably off with Nancie somewhere, Sirius is having sex with some poor girl, and who knows about Remus," Lily said.

"It's scary how well you know the whereabouts of everyone," Kacie said.

"I listen when people talk to me," Lily said with a shrug.

"Either that or you're a really good stalker," Kacie joked. She hopped off the bed. "Well, then let's go find Remus."

"Why?" Lily asked.

"Because he's a Marauder and I'm sure he has some idea as to what we can do on a Friday night," Kacie said.

"He's different from the others though."

"So? He's still a Marauder," Kacie said. "And no matter which Marauder you are, you have a devious mind." Lily shrugged and followed Kacie out of the room.

* * *

"Okay we were bored and thought to ourselves, what's Remus up to," Kacie said, plopping down on the couch in the Gryffindor common room. 

"What you meant to say was everyone else you know is busy and I was your last option so here you are," Remus said.

Kacie turned to Lily. "He knows us too well."

Lily laughed, and plopped down in a chair. "So what is there to do on a Friday night at ten o'clock?"

"It depends," Remus said. "You can either be like Sirius and James and have sex every Friday night, be like Peter and get detention for playing pranks, or be like me and sit here and do homework."

"And those are our only options?" Lily asked.

"Personally if I were you, I'd choose the first option," Remus teased. "Or…we can go for option number four."

"There is _no _way I'm playing a prank on a poor first year," Lily accused.

"I wasn't going to say that," Remus said. "Are you hungry?"

* * *

"What idiot thought hmm, I'm going to see if tickling the pear will do anything," Lily said sarcastically. 

"Obviously the idiot who was very hungry," Remus said.

"So Remus, I have a question for you," Kacie said, sitting up on the countertop.

"No questions, just food," Remus insisted.

"But what's the fun in that?" Kacie asked, grabbing a cookie. "What's it like being the nicest, sweetest, and most caring of the Marauders?"

"You guys may not be able to see it, but the other three are some of the nicest people I've met," Remus said. Kacie and Lily looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"Yeah, and I'm the Queen of England," Lily said sarcastically.

Remus sighed. "Those guys have been there for me when I've needed it most and although you don't see it, those guys are the three greatest friends a guy could ask for."

Lily rolled her eyes. "And they're just oh so caring when they use every thing in this school who wears lip gloss and nail polish."

"Okay, so they're not the best at relationships," Remus said with a shrug. "When it comes to girls, they turn into jerks. But as friends, they're pretty great."

"Alright, this is boring," Kacie said. "I want to hear the juicy stuff."

"Like what?"

"Last girlfriend you had, last date you went on, last time you made out with a girl, last time you had se-"

"Oh look at the time!" Remus interrupted.

Kacie rolled her eyes. "Oh come on. There has to be a girl who you were nuts over at some point in time."

Remus shrugged. "Lily Evans."

Lily spat out her pumpkin juice. "Ex_cuse _me?"

Remus laughed. "I'm just kidding…but that look was priceless."

"Why you little…" Lily trailed off and threw a pair of apples and an orange at him.

"Hey! You could really hurt me with those!" Remus exclaimed, rubbing the spot on his arm where Lily whacked him with an apple.

"Well that was my plan!" Lily cried out with a laugh.

Remus bit into the apple and decided to answer Kacie's question. "Susi Engelmen."

"That sixth year Ravenclaw?" Lily asked.

"Yup," Remus said, shrugging his shoulders. "She was my last girlfriend, my last date, my last kiss, and practically my last everything. Mostly because she was pretty much my _only _anything…except for a one night stand with someone I like to forget."

"Are you kidding?" Lily asked. "You are _clearly _the best Marauder and you are standing here telling me that the other three get all the girls?"

"Well…Sirius and James at least," Remus said.

"So how long ago was this relationship between you and Susi?" Kacie asked.

"A year and a half ago."

Once again, Lily spit out her pumpkin juice. "_A year and a half?_"

"You seem surprised," Remus said, taking another bite of the apple.

"Well that's probably because I _am _surprised," Lily pointed out.

"And tell us more about this girl you like to forget," Kacie said with a smirk.

"I forget," Remus joked.

Kacie looked Remus up and down. "So what's wrong with you?"

Remus stared at her. "Ex_cuse _me?"

"There's obviously something wrong with you if you haven't had a girlfriend in a year and a half," Kacie said. "And I want to know what it is."

"The only thing wrong with me is that I hang out with you guys," Remus joked.

Kacie rolled her eyes. "No seriously, what's the matter with you?"

"It's not what's wrong with _me_. It's what's wrong with everyone else. It's not my fault that girls would rather swoon over my other two best friends," Remus said with a shrug. "And frankly, I don't care. Obviously James and Sirius like being fawned over, and I'm not one to complain about that."

"Awww, is wittle Remus afwraid of relationships?" Lily joked.

"No, although I _am _afraid of where this conversation is going," Remus said. "Let's talk about something else."

"Like what?" Lily asked.

"Like _your _relationships," Remus said.

"But that's boring," Lily said.

"Yeah, and I already know all the juicy stuff about Lily's sex life," Kacie added. "You already know it also Remus."

"I do?"

"Well, what do you know?" Kacie asked.

"Nothing," Remus said.

"Then you know everything," Lily said, making the other two laugh.

* * *

Lily walked into her commons room, holding her books from her trip to the library. "AGH!" Lily cried out, dropping everything on the floor. 

James looked up. "Um…hi Lily. What are you doing back so early?"

"I finished my homework," Lily said. "What the hell are _you _doing?"

James looked from Nancie to Lily. "If you don't know what kissing is by now, I can't help you."

"That is _not _what I meant," Lily said. "You have a bedroom. Why don't you use it?"

"We were doing homework together out here. It's not like we expected to-" James started.

"Please, don't finish that sentence," Lily said, holding her hand up to stop him. "I'll just put these books in my room and leave you two alone."

"Good idea," Nancie said. James sighed and looked down at his feet but didn't say anything. He watched Lily drop her books off and leave the room in a hurry.

James stood up, making Nancie fall from his lap. "Hey!" she exclaimed.

James just ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "I think you should go."

Nancie looked appalled. "Why?"

"Because we obviously didn't get any work done, and I have lots of it," James said, still eyeing the door Lily left from. Nancie pouted and gave her cutest puppy dog face but James didn't even notice because we was thinking about Lily and wondering where she could be heading to.

* * *

Lily left the Gryffindor Commons Room wondering where all of her friends could be on a Thursday night. She sighed and decided to take a walk outside even though it was the first day of December and it was freezing. Lily kept walking until she didn't recognize where she was and she decided to sit down on a boulder. 

Lily jumped when she heard noises in the bushes. She grabbed a stick and pointed it at the movement in the bushes. She raised her arm to hit the thing but stopped when she saw what it was. "Potter?" Lily exclaimed. "What are _you _doing all the way down here?"

"I just happened to jog down this way," James said with a shrug.

"Isn't that your broom over there?" Lily asked.

"So _that's_ where I left it!" James said with a sheepish grin.

Lily gave him a look. James sighed and sat down beside Lily on the boulder. "I'm sorry about that."

"About scaring me?"

"Well yeah, that too. But I was referring to you walking in on Nancie and I," James said.

"It's fine," Lily said quickly. "I've seen people snogging before. It's no big deal."

"I know, but it kinda went against the whole 'avoid James at all costs' plan," James said with a shrug.

"What? There was no plan," Lily lied.

"You practically run out of the room every morning just so you don't have to see me," James said.

"And you think that means I'm avoiding you?" Lily asked. James gave her a look. "Okay, but what about you? Eating lunch at two in the afternoon so you don't have to see me?" Lily said.

"Alright, so we're both guilty of avoiding each other," James offered.

"True," Lily said.

"What if we tried…_not_ avoiding each other," James said.

"You mean like walk to classes together and eat meals together and possibly do homework together?" Lily asked.

"Well let's not get carried away," James teased. "I just mean, what if you didn't run out of the room ever time you hear my footsteps?"

"But then how will I ever get my exercise?" Lily asked.

"Running after Sirius after he plays a prank on you," James said.

Lily paused."Chasing after Sirius and potentially hurting him? Sounds good to me," Lily said with a laugh and James joined in. They both grew quiet and Lily looked sincerely over at James. "I guess we can try it."

"Try being nice to each other?" James asked.

"Now that's pushing it," Lily said. "I just mean we should try to make these last 6 months as painless as possible and I don't like spending them coming up with plans on how to stay away from you."

"Alright, so no making each other's lives a living hell?" James asked, sticking his hand out for Lily to shake.

Lily put her hand in his and shook it. "Deal."

James smiled. "Ya know, some people might call what we are having here a conversation. A nice _friendly _conversation."

"And some people might say that you just ruined it," Lily teased, standing up and walking away.

"Hey where ya going?" James called out. "Some people might classify you walking away as avoiding me!"

"And some people might call it just trying to get away from you," Lily exclaimed.

"Fair enough," James mumbled to himself as he grabbed his broom and flew to be next to Lily's side. He even smiled when he saw that she didn't object.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

_Oooh, can they handle being friends when they've spent the first six years hating each other? Next chapter: a party will occur, does shy Kacie end up getting a guy, and will Lily learn to get over how aggravting James used to be? review and find out (at LEAST ten reviews would be nice!)_


	7. A pre Christmas party party

**_Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 7_**

_thanks to everyone who reviewed, i really appreciate it! keep reviewing please!_

_Disclaimer: I think by the 7th chapter, you should know how this goes..._

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"Jingle Bells-" Sirius sang.

"Shut up Si," James groaned.

"Jingle Bells-" Sirius continued.

"Be quiet," Remus insisted.

"Jingle all the way-"

"Sirius!" Lily burst out.

"Oh what fun-"

"Stop!" Peter exclaimed.

"it is to ride-"

"Ergh!" Gigi cried out in annoyance.

"in a one horse-"

"Kindly _shut up_," Kacie urged.

"open sleigh-"

"SIRIUS!" they all shouted.

Sirius pouted. "I'm bored."

"I blame you," Remus said, turning to Lily. "_You're _the one who taught him that Muggle song."

"I didn't think he would use it to _torture _us," Lily pointed out.

"If you're bored Si, why don't you try doing your homework?" James asked.

Sirius looked at him and burst out laughing. "Ha! That'll be the day." James groaned and got back to reading through his essay.

"I think we should _all _not do homework," Sirius suggested.

"And I think you should shut up," Gigi muttered.

"Hmm, that's a good option, but I like the first suggestion better," Sirius said.

"I figured you would," Gigi mumbled, and then looked back at the book she was reading.

Lily closed her books and turned to Sirius but Sirius was already talking to her. "Ha! I got someone else to stop doing homework! I am the king, I am the best, I am god, I am-"

"I'm done with my homework," Lily said.

"Oh," Sirius said. "Can I still be king?"

"Isn't this nice?" Remus asked, looking up from his essay.

"Depends on what you're talking about. Because I can assure you that doing homework isn't nice and Sirius's singing voice _definitely_ isn't nice. So please specify," Kacie said.

"All of us sitting together, getting along," Remus said.

"Sirius!" Gigi exclaimed, slapping his arm and snatching her essay now covered in ink away from him.

"…_almost _getting along," Remus corrected.

"You know what I've decided," Sirius said.

"That blue and pink are _not _the same color?" James asked.

"Well be_sides _that," Sirius said, rolling his eyes. "No, I was going to say that I think it's time for another party."

"No," Lily exclaimed right away.

"But-"

"No."

"Don't you-"

"No."

Gigi turned to Sirius. "I think the answer is no."

"She's not the boss of me," Sirius insisted. He turned to glance at Lily who was glaring at him evilly. Sirius cowered, "Just one itsy bitsy party?"

"Since when have _you _thrown an 'itsy bitsy' party?" Lily asked, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Now is as good a time as any," Sirius said with a shrug.

"At this itsy bitsy party will there be spiked punch, every person you know, and people dancing on top of tables?" Lily asked.

"Along with the spider," Kacie said.

"The what?" Sirius asked.

"The itsy bitsy spider," Kacie explained. Everyone looked at her blankly so she turned to Lily. "So table dancing huh?"

"Naturally there _will _be some punch that may taste a little like alcohol, and people will be dancing on tables-" Sirius said.

"Mostly because they are drunk from the 'punch that may taste a little like alcohol,'" James confirmed.

"And not every person I know will be there," Sirius said. "Only every _girl _I know."

"Oh well that comforts me," Lily said, rolling her eyes.

"Come on, Christmas is in three weeks. It can be our just get through these next few weeks alive party," Sirius said.

"Almost like a pre-Christmas party," James said.

"Actually it's going to be a pre-Christmas party party," Sirius said.

"You're going to have a Christmas party also?" Lily asked with groan.

"We have to," Sirius insisted.

"Why?" Lily asked.

Sirius paused and then turned to James. "Why?"

"Because it's what we always do," James said to Sirius.

Sirius turned to Lily. "Because it's what we always do."

"People like tradition," James said.

Sirius turned back to Lily. "People like tradition."

"I heard him," Lily said.

Sirius turned to James. "She heard you."

Lily groaned. "I'm not buying this whole tradition thing. Tell me exactly why you just _need _to have a Christmas party."

Sirius turned to James. "How does she know these things?"

"It's like a sixth sense or something," James whispered back.

"Soooo, why are you having a Christmas party?" Lily asked.

"Like we've said, it's what we have been doing for the past several years, people like tradition, it's a way to celebrate the best holiday of the year, people get to kick back and forget about schoolwork for a little bit, I already invited almost all of Hogwarts, people like to kiss under the mistletoe and drink eggnog, they -"

"What?" Lily exclaimed.

"People like to kiss under the mistletoe?" Sirius asked.

"The other thing," Lily said.

"People like to drink eggnog?"

"Sirius," Lily warned.

"Well everyone comes up to me and asks what we're doing for Christmas. What am I supposed to say?"

"Try _no _for once!" Lily exclaimed.

Sirius paused. "You can do that?"

Lily growled and turned to her other friends. "Isn't anyone going to help me here?"

Everyone else exchanged looks. "People dancing on tables huh?" Kacie asked.

Lily threw her hands up in frustration. "No matter what I say, you're going to throw a party, right?"

"Yup," all the Marauders answered in unison.

"So why do you bother asking?" Lily wondered.

"Actually we didn't ask," Sirius said. "You just said no to a suggestion, not to a question."

"Fine, have the party," Lily mumbled. "Get drunk, hook up with girls, dance on tables, get alcohol poisoning for all I care."

"That's all I ask!" Sirius exclaimed.

* * *

"Oh c'mon! Sex is _way _better than Christmas," James argued. 

"No way. Christmas is _so_ much better than sex," Remus said. "…primarily because Christmas comes more often."

"Speak for yourself," James said with a grin.

"You get gifts at Christmas. You can't say that happens during sex," Peter noted.

"The girl is gift enough," James said. Remus and Peter just stared at him and then all three of them bust out laughing. "God I wish I believed that."

"Can we _please _stop talking about Christmas and sex?" Sirius asked, obviously aggravated.

All three boys stopped talking instantly and their jaws dropped. "Ex_cuse _me?"

"We're talking about your two favorite things in life," James said.

"Yeah, while I'm trying to study," Sirius claimed.

James spit out the water he just sipped. "You don't want to talk about sex and Christmas because of _homework?_" James didn't even care that now his newly washed robes were now covered in water that was just in his mouth.

"You've turned into a monster!" Remus cried out at Sirius.

"You've turned into an alien!"

"Worse," James said. "He's turned into _Lily._"

"I haven't turned into anyone," Sirius said, rolling his eyes. "And you guys have it all wrong. Sex _on _Christmas is best."

"With cake!" James exclaimed.

"Where did cake come from?" Remus questioned.

James shrugged, "I don't know…I just really want cake right now."

"So why are you all of a sudden studying?" Remus asked Sirius.

"I've studied before," Sirius said.

"Yeah, you've studied girls, pranks, and chocolate," James muttered.

"Well since you told me I'm not allowed to copy off your homework anymore, I decided that I should do it myself," Sirius said with a shrug.

"Fair enough," James said and then turned to Remus and Peter. "Sex, Christmas, cake, _and _whipped cream."

Remus grinned. "Perfect."

* * *

"Hey," Lily said as she looked up and saw James walk into their commons room. 

"Oh, hey," James said, not expecting her to be there.

"Where were you?" Lily asked casually.

"Just out," James said with a shrug.

"With Nancie?" Lily wondered.

James shrugged and then he sat down on the other couch.

"Can I ask you a question?" Lily asked nonchalantly.

"Sure."

"What exactly are you guys?" Lily asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean are you and Nancie dating, just hanging out together, seeing each other when you don't have any other dates lined up, or what?"

"We're not really going out if that's what you mean. We're young, what's the point in being tied to one person?" James asked with a shrug. "Why do you care?"

"I don't," Lily said. "I was merely wondering because no one could really figure out what you two were."

"Oh," James said and then took his DADA book from the end table and opened it. After a few minutes of silence he glanced up from his book and peeked over at Lily. "I wasn't with Nancie tonight."

Lily looked up from her homework. "You weren't?"

James shook his head and then went back to reading. Lily looked at him, waiting for him to go further into detail. "So where were you?"

"With the guys," James answered, not looking up from his book.

"What were you guys doing?"

"Nothing much."

"You weren't playing a prank, were you?" Lily asked warily. James shook his head. "Sneaking down to the kitchens?" James shook his head again. "Okay, so what were you doing?"

"We were in the Gryffindor commons room," James said.

"No you weren't," Lily accused. "Because I just got back from it and you were never there."

James gulped and didn't look up from his book.

"So what were you doing?"

"Nothing," James answered quickly.

"Why won't you tell me?" Lily asked. James said nothing. "It's because it's against the rules isn't it?" James bit his lip. "God, why can't you guys just have fun while sticking to the rules? Did it have something to do with the Slytherins? What were you doing to them?"

James just tried to ignore her and pretend that he was reading.

"Potter! Answer me! I'm the Head Girl, I have a right to know if you're doing something against the rules!"

James slammed his book shut. "Look, it's none of your goddamned business okay? So get off my back." And with that, James went into his room, and shut the door.

* * *

"I can't believe I got stuck with you," Lily muttered jokingly. 

"Oh, you think I'm happy that Remus isn't here, Peter chose some Ravenclaw, and James chose Nancie?" Sirius asked.

"Well why didn't _you _choose Gabrielle, or Frida, or Selma, or Margie, or-"

"Because according to all of them I may be good in bed, but I suck when it comes to Transfiguration," Sirius said.

"I _really _didn't need to know that," Lily mumbled.

"I know," Sirius said. "But that's what makes me so nice."

"Sharing unwanted information?"

"Sharing in general," Sirius corrected.

"Well do me a favor and don't," Lily said. "If anyone calls you selfish and mean because you don't share information about your personal life, they can deal with me."

"Ooh what are you going to do?" Sirius asked. "Punch them? Yell at them? Oh, even better, mud wrestle them?"

"On second thought, don't tell them to come deal with me," Lily said.

"So what do we have to do here?" Sirius asked.

"Weren't you listening when the professor was drowning on and on about it for twenty minutes?" Lily asked.

"No," Sirius said. "I was making a boat out of my parchment." He showed Lily and Lily rolled her eyes.

"It's a mystery to me how you've made it to seventh year," Lily said, shaking her head.

Sirius looked over at Nancie kissing James on the lips. "Oooh, is that what we're supposed to be doing? Because that's something I get a good grade on easily."

Lily looked over at Nancie and James and didn't say anything. She just looked down at the table and acted like she was concentrating hard on what she was transfiguring.

"Is that a no on the kissing thing?" Sirius asked, taking a step closer to Lily.

Lily stuck her hand out. "Take any more steps towards me and I _will _twist your arm out of its socket."

"But then I can't transfigure this," Sirius said.

"You'd probably get a better grade with your arm out of its socket," Lily pointed out

Sirius thought about it. "True…okay, twist my arm," Sirius said, handing Lily his arm. Lily just pushed his arm back to him and glanced over at Nancie and James once more.

Sirius looked up at Lily and noticed who she was gazing at. "Can I ask you a question?"

"As long as it doesn't deal with girls, food, pranks, Quidditch, my ex-boyfriends, my best friends, _your _best friends, or anything that has to do with me."

"Hmm, that limits my choices down to…practically nothing," Sirius said.

"That's not true," Lily said. "You can ask me why you're not able to turn this bowling ball into a saucer."

Sirius pouted. "Fine, I won't talk about any of those things you just mentioned," Sirius said. "Let's say, hypothetically, there was this…monster named James and this other monster named Lily. They usually don't get along, but all of a sudden they start to get along but then today they go back to pretending each other doesn't exist. Do you know, hypothetically, why that is?"

Lily stared at him. "Subtlety is _not _your strong suit."

"Well it's hard to ask a question when you have a mile long list of what you're not allowed to say!" Sirius insisted.

Lily glanced over at Sirius and then back to the bowling ball. "What were you doing two nights ago?"

"Um…I don't remember, why?" Sirius asked.

"Because I know it was something you're not supposed to be doing and I'm Head Girl. I have a right to know what it is," Lily insisted.

Sirius thought back to two days ago. "Remus's mother is sick so we went with him to talk to Dumbledore about how to get him home," Sirius said with a shrug, not bothering to look at Lily.

"Oh," Lily said, feeling a little guilty about accusing both Sirius and James of doing something against the rules. Lily looked up at James and saw Nancie walk up to the front of the room. "I'll be right back."

Lily walked up to James who only glanced for a split second at her and then back to his bowling ball which strangely looked like it had a head growing out of it. "Hey James, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for asking you those millions of questions two nights ago. It really was none of my business and…" Lily said but noticed James staring at Nancie's ass. "I'm sorry, obviously Nancie's ass has something more important to say."

"Huh? What?"

"I was trying to apologize and you were totally checking Nancie out!" Lily exclaimed.

"I was not," James insisted. "I was merely looking at her skirt...or was it pants?"

"It's robes!" Lily exclaimed.

"Oh yeah," James said slowly.

Lily exhaled angrily and started walking away. "Wait no, Lily, come back!" James cried out.

Lily sighed and turned around but didn't walk towards him. "What?"

"I'm sorry I snapped at you that night. It wasn't your fault I was in a bad mood," James said with a shrug.

"Well I deserved it," Lily said. "It really was none of my business."

James smiled at her and Lily returned the smile. "Well, I guess I should get back to our bowling ball before Sirius turns it into a monster or something," Lily said with a laugh.

"Or worse, if he drops it on his foot," James said.

Lily thought about it. "Nah, that would be funny."

James laughed and couldn't help watching her as she walked away.

* * *

"Here," James said, handing Lily a drink at the party a week later. "I got you a drink." 

Lily looked at him. "You must think I'm stupid."

"Huh?"

"Are you seriously standing here handing me a glass of punch you and I both know was spiked an hour ago?" Lily asked.

James looked from the cup to Lily and shrugged. "I guess that means more for me," James said and then gulped down the glass.

"In thirty seconds you're going to be dancing on that table over there," Lily muttered.

"You'd like that wouldn't you?" James said with a wink.

Lily groaned and walked away.

"Maybe next time sweet cheeks!" James called after her teasingly. James grinned but quickly frowned when he heard the conversation going on next to him.

"She's the sweet innocent one of the group," a boy was saying. "I wonder what she's like in bed."

"You really think Kacie is the innocent one?" the other boy was asking. "I always thought Lily was pretty innocent herself."

"I always thought that too, but she's had a couple of boys come back to the Head Girl room," the first boy said. "Have you been with Gigi before?"

"Nah, not really my kind of girl."

"She's a great kisser though," the first boy said with a smile. "Here's my chance, Kacie is alone. How long should I sweet talk her before I bring her back to my room?"

"Just enough to get her to like you," the other one said.

"Good plan," the first one said and then he walked over to Kacie.

James was about to jump him from behind when Sirius came over and started talking to him.

"Is it me, or have the girls gotten hotter since the beginning of the year?" Sirius asked, taking a sip of the spiked punch.

"Sirius, you think anything with a mini skirt and lip gloss is hott no matter _what _time of year," James pointed out.

Sirius paused. "True…"

"What are you two doing over here in the corner?" Remus asked.

"Talking about girls," Sirius said with a shrug.

"Instead of dancing with them?" Remus asked.

"I've danced with so many girls that it's time to take a break," Sirius explained.

"And what about you?" Remus asked.

"Well I was dancing with Nancie but then she disappeared," James said.

Sirius flung his arm around James's neck. "And he'd _much _rather stand here talking to me."

"Oh, there's Nancie!" James explained. "See ya guys later."

Sirius pouted as his arm fell back to his side. "Apparently I'm wrong."

"But you're used to being wrong by now, aren't ya?" Remus teased.

* * *

"And why is someone as pretty as you sitting alone over here?" 

Kacie looked up to see a seventh year Hufflepuff standing in front of her. "Hi Trevor."

"Ah, so you _do _know who I am," Trevor said.

"We've been going to Hogwarts together for seven years now. It would be pathetic if I _didn't _know who you were," Kacie said.

Trevor nodded in agreement. "So why aren't you hanging out with your friends?"

"Because Lily is off yelling at James and Sirius for spiking the punch and Gigi is off with some guy," Kacie said with a shrug.

"And why aren't _you _off with some guy?" Trevor teased.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't _you _some guy?" Kacie joked.

Trevor laughed. "Good point. So…do you want to dance?"

Kacie looked him over and smiled. "Sure."

From across the way James muttered to himself, "Uh oh."

"James!" Lily cried out waving her hand in front of his face. "Am I invisible or do you need new glasses?"

"No, I can see you," James mumbled. "And unfortunately I can hear you too."

Sirius snickered at that comment. "Lily, we get it. We shouldn't spike the punch, we shouldn't let first years near the punch, we shouldn't let people drink so much. Is there anything _else _you want us to stop? World hunger? Homelessness?"

Lily growled at Sirius. "You are soooo not getting my point."

"No, I get your point. I just don't _care_," Sirius exclaimed. Sirius glanced over at James staring intently at something. "And apparently he doesn't care either."

Lily glanced over at him. "What girl is he staring at now?"

Sirius glanced onto the dance floor at who James was staring at. "Kacie."

"_What?_" Lily exclaimed, checking out where James was looking. "What's he doing staring at her?"

"Maybe he's blind and thinks it's Nancie," Sirius whispered with a shrug. Lily glared at him. "And maybe I'm an idiot for even suggesting something like that." Lily nodded in agreement.

"Hey James," Lily exclaimed. "Potter!"

James looked over at Lily. "What do you want?"

"Why are you staring at Kacie?"

"Maybe he was staring at the guy," Sirius suggested. Lily glared at him again. "And maybe I'm an idiot once again."

"That guy is up to no good," James said.

"Oh yeah, look at him. Oh my gosh! He's _dancing_. How _dare _he!" Lily said sarcastically.

"No, I'm _telling _you," James exclaimed. "He's just using her."

"Why do you think that every guy at Hogwarts is here to use the girls?" Lily asked.

"I don't," James insisted. "I just _know _that that guy is up to no good."

Lily groaned and turned to James. "Why are you so overprotective of all your friends?"

"I'm not!" James insisted.

"You're right," Lily said. "You could care less about what Sirius does. Sirius could get every girl at Hogwarts pregnant and you wouldn't have a problem-"

"Hey! Leave me out of this," Sirius exclaimed. Lily gave him a death stare. "…so I could get every girl pregnant huh?"

Lily turned back to James. "You don't give a damn about what your guys friends do. It's just us girls you feel shouldn't be dating any guy in this school."

"Okay, I _never _said any of that," James said. "You are totally taking this the wrong way."

"Well, then why is that guy up to no good?" Lily asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"You wanna know why?" James asked.

"I just said that, didn't I?" Lily asked obviously annoyed.

"Well I'll tell ya..." James said slowly. He paused and realized Lily would never believe thetruth, so he cried out, "He's a hired assassin. He'll kill Kacie as soon as he gets her alone!"

"James."

"Okay, no he's not. He's actually a woman," James said.

"Potter!" Lily exclaimed.

"A robot?"

"Stop it!"

"Oooh, can I play?" Sirius asked. "How about he's a monster who will eat Kacie?" Both James and Lily glared at him. "And how about I just stay out of it?"

"Good idea," Lily said and then turned to James. "When you come up with a reasonable answer as to why that guy shouldn't be leaving the party with Kacie, then you come talk to me."

"They're leaving the party?" James exclaimed, turning around. And sure enough, Trevor and Kacie were exiting the commons room. "I'll be right back." James practically zoomed to the other side of the room. "Hey guys, what's going on?"

"Um…hi James," Kacie said, obviously annoyed that he was bothering her.

"Gigi was looking for you," James lied, turning to Kacie.

"She was?" Kacie asked, looking around the party. "She's not even here."

"I know, she said to stay at the party and she'll find you when she's able to," James fibbed.

"Oh," Kacie said, obviously unhappy. She turned to Trevor. "Sorry Trevor, but I don't want to make Gigi upset."

Trevor let out an angry sigh. "It's fine, we'll get together some other time."

"Sure," she said with a smile, giving Trevor a kiss on the cheek. James glared at Trevor and walked over to the punch to refill his cup.

* * *

"I am sooo bored," Sirius complained. "Entertain me." 

"JAMES POTTER!" Lily screeched, barging into their commons room.

James turned to Sirius. "I think I'm in trouble. Don't let her find me," James pleaded.

Sirius turned back to the entrance. "He's right here!" James glared at him and Sirius shrugged. "What? I said I needed entertainment."

"And you think me dying is a good way to entertain yourself?" James asked.

"For five minutes at least," Sirius said with a shrug. "Don't worry, I'll bring you back from the dead."

"How?" James asked. "By giving me CPR?"

Sirius paused. "On the other hand...you staying dead doesn't sound half bad."

"You are the lowest of the low!" Lily cried out. "I can_not _believe you!"

"What did I do this time?" James asked.

"You were an asshole, that's what!" Lily shouted.

Sirius yawned. "Alright, I'm already bored." And Sirius got up and left.

"Wait! Don't leave me with crazy lady over here!" James shouted after Sirius, who obviously didn't hear him. James sighed. "What did I do?"

"I know you got Trevor to ignore Kacie," Lily said "What did you do, pay him 10 galleons to dump her?"

"He said that?" James asked. "Lily, who are you going to believe? Me, or some jerk I paid 10 galleons to dump Kacie?"

"How could you _do _that to her?" Lily demanded to know.

"You don't know the whole story," James said.

"What whole story? You didn't like the guy because of his hair or his clothes or _something _and instead of letting one of your good friends be happy, you got rid of him!" Lily exclaimed. "How much of a jerk could you be?"

James stood up. "Do you _really _think I'm like that? You think that I would get a guy to ignore a friend of mine for no good reason?"

"You ruined a date I went on for no good reason!" Lily reminded.

James stopped. "Oh yeah…"

"Kacie has always been the shy, innocent one. And then she gets a chance to open up and a guy actually talks to her and you completely disregard her feelings," Lily said. "You don't give a damn about anyone but yourself and frankly, I'm sick of it. So do me a favor, and stay out of my friends lives and _especially _stay out of my life."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

_Will Lily and James ever make up? Will they ever be able to be friends for more than a few weeks? The only way to find out is to review!_


	8. A Blow Up Doll, Hide and Seek, and Dopey

**_Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 8_**

_Sorry this is later then usual, I was in Philadelphia since Friday and just got back. After doing homework, I figured I would post something for all of you who are waiting for the next chapter._

_To answer questions people posed in the reviews of the last 7 chapters: I used to have 15 stories, but 5 of them had song lyrics in them and so the fanfiction people took them off saying they were against the honor code.  
Nope, no Remus/Kacie relationship last chapter or this chapter...sorry to disappoint, you'll just have to wait and see what happens...  
Gigi (aka Gillian)'s name is pronounced G-G (act like the G in Gillian is a J, it's pronounced just like you would pronounce Jillian). It's not a "Ga" sound, it's a"Gee" sound.  
The "see ya" quote is similar to something that occured in Boy Meets World. _

_disclaimer: you should know by now what belongs to be and what belongs to JKR. _

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"Why don't you just tell her the conversation you overheard?" Remus asked.

"It's not like she'd believe me," James mumbled. "She thinks I don't give a damn about anyone but myself."

"She doesn't think that," Peter said.

"Yes she does," James murmured.

"What gives you that idea?" Remus asked.

"When she said I didn't give a damn about anyone but myself," James repeated.

"Oh…yeah, that'll do it," Remus said.

"Wow, I _really _wish I hadn't left," Sirius noted. "That sounds a lot more exciting than watching Peter and Remus do homework."

"Sirius," James said. "_Anything _is more exciting than watching those two do homework."

"I wish you would have told me this sooner," Sirius moped.

"She's such a hypocrite," James exclaimed.

"Who?" Sirius asked.

"Lily! Who else?"

"Oh, we're still talking about her?" Sirius asked.

"She always tells me that she'll be friends with me and she swears that I'm not a bad person," James said. "And then she turns around and yells at me, telling me that everything I do is wrong and that I'm self-centered and obnoxious, etc."

"It sounds to me as if she doesn't trust being friends with you," Remus said with a shrug. "She's scared of trusting you, so the moment something happens that could remotely be your fault, she yells at you for it. That way she doesn't have to worry about whether she can trust you or not."

"But that's ridiculous," James exclaimed. "I honestly just want us to get along."

"It doesn't seem like that'll ever happen," Remus said sadly.

"Well now I'm not so sure I give a damn anymore," James muttered. "Why would I want to be friends with someone who only thinks of me as a selfish prat? I'm better off without her."

"That's what I like to hear!" Peter claimed.

"That's horrible," Sirius said.

"That is _not _what I like to hear," Peter corrected.

"You and Lily should be able to get along," Sirius said. "You just have to change the way she looks at you."

"I've _tried_, Padfoot. Nothing's working," James muttered.

"Ugh, remember back to all your fights," Sirius said. "No matter what, you've been able to work it out. Even after you put tiny toads in her bed and she woke up with one in her mouth. Remember that?"

James smirked. "Yeah…she gave me the silent treatment for two weeks," James reminisced. "That was a _great _two weeks."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "You know you like the girl."

"Never have I _ever _liked that girl," James said.

"Even when you kissed her?"

"Okay that doesn't count."

"And when you spent an entire year asking her out?" Sirius noted.

"That doesn't count either."

"And when you wrote I love Lily Evans all over your parchment?"

"Okay, you remember _waaaay _too many things," James said.

"It's obvious that you've liked her in the past and you should be able to get along with the girl you're obsessed with," Sirius said with a shrug.

"I'm not obsessed with her," James cried out. "And I'm _tired _of her always thinking I'm a bad person. Why would I _want _to be friends with someone who thinks that? I should take her advice and stay out of her life."

"_Or _you could just go up to her and say you paid that Trevor guy to ignore Kacie because all he wanted was to sleep with her," Sirius said.

"_Or _you could mind your own business and we can talk about this upcoming Christmas party," James insisted.

Sirius paused to think about it. "You're lucky I like talking about Christmas and parties."

"What day do we want it?" James asked.

"Tomorrow," Sirius answered instantly.

"Sirius, that's two weeks away from Christmas," Remus pointed out.

"So?"

"Well, it wouldn't be a Christmas party," Remus noted. "It would be a 'two weeks before Christmas party.'"

Sirius paused. "What's wrong with that?"

"It's not Christmas!" Remus exclaimed.

"I'm still not following," Sirius said blankly.

Remus shook his head. "When you have a party on February 2nd, is it a Christmas Party?"

"No," Sirius said.

"Okay, well then a party two weeks before Christmas wouldn't be a Christmas party either, now would it?" Remus asked.

Sirius stared at him. "I still don't get it."

"No party tomorrow. Party in two weeks," Remus said.

Sirius nodded. "Okay…why didn't you just say that in the first place?"

Remus hit himself over the head. "I always forget to use small words in simple sentences around you."

"So who are we inviting?" James asked, glad to interrupt.

"No guys," Sirius said immediately.

"Why not?" Peter dared to ask.

"They always get in the way," Sirius said with a shrug. "It's hard for me to get all the girls if those girls are distracted by other guys."

"So does that mean we're uninvited?" Remus asked.

Sirius thought about it. "Nah, you can come. Just stay away from all the girls."

"So basically," James said slowly. "You want us to hit on each other?"

Sirius looked at his three best friends. "Whatever floats your boat."

"Other guys are coming," James said right away.

"So should we get Kacie, Gigi, and Lily to help us plan?" Remus asked.

"Giliba's not invited," Sirius said instantly as James said, "Lily's not invited."

Remus turned to Peter. "This party is going to be impossible to plan."

Peter sighed. "What food should we get?"

"Chocolate cake," Sirius and James answered simultaneously.

Remus grinned and turned to Peter. "Maybe it won't be so hard."

* * *

Sirius walked into James and Lily's commons room the next day and instantly regretted it. "Is James here?" 

Gigi looked up and groaned. "No." She then looked back down at her book, expecting Sirius to leave.

Sirius looked at her, waiting for more information. "Do you know where he is?" he asked after several seconds of silence.

"Prefect meeting."

"Do you know when he'll be back?" Sirius asked.

"Later," Gigi said, not bothering to look up.

"When later?"

Gigi shrugged. "Soon, it started an hour ago."

"Do you have a ballpark figure of when the meeting will be getting out?"

Gigi slammed her book down and looked up at Sirius. "Don't you think a prefect meeting is more important than planning your stupid Christmas party?"

"Who said I was here to plan the party?" Sirius asked.

"Because it's a week and a half before the party," Gigi said. "Of _course _you're planning it. You're probably ignoring piles of homework and other responsibilities just so this party has your full attention just like every other year."

"What the hell is your problem?" Sirius argued. "Every year you come to that party and have a great time. So why do you care if I enjoy spending my time planning it?"

"What the hell is _your _problem?" Gigi asked. "I was sitting here minding my own business doing homework and then you come in and ask me hundreds of questions."

"I only asked a few questions and that's because I need to find James," Sirius said.

"Well, do I _look _like James?" Gigi asked.

"No…you're a lot hotter than he is," Sirius said with a smirk.

Gigi chose to ignore his comment. "So we've established that _I'm _not James, and that I have no idea when James is coming back. So why don't you _leave _before I do something I'll regret?"

"If my mind serves me correctly, it seems that you and I have already done something that you regret," Sirius said.

Gigi gathered her stuff in a hurry and stared at Sirius with hatred. "Why do you like bringing that up? Do you _like _talking about times when you were an asshole? Do you enjoy proving to me that you are a complete asshole?"

"No," Sirius said. "I just want to make you understand that-"

Gigi put her hand up to stop him from talking. "Stop. I don't want to hear it."

"Giliba, you _have _to hear me out," Sirius insisted.

"Why? So you can humiliate me some more?" Gigi asked. "I don't care anymore Black. That was a year ago. Let's just continue hating each other." Gigi started walking to the exit.

"But I _don't _hate you," Sirius explained. "I don't _want _to keep fighting."

Gigi turned around and sighed. "Well then maybe you should have thought about that before." And with that said, Gigi left the room.

* * *

"Oh," Kacie said as she turned the corner and ran into James a few days later. "Bye." 

"Don't you mean hi?" James asked.

"No, saying hi signals that I want to start a conversation," Kacie said. "And I don't want to. So…bye."

"Kace," James said.

"Don't Kace me," Kacie accused. "You don't _live _in my shoes James Potter! You don't sit there and watch guy after guy take out our two best friends. I _finally _get a chance to be happy and you ruin it!"

James sighed as he watched Kacie walk away. "Don't you trust me?"

Kacie stopped and slowly turned around. "What?"

James sighed again and walked over to Kacie. "Kacie, I may seem like a huge idiot sometimes and I may be a total prat when it comes to girls and I may seem cocky and selfish and I may-"

"Not that I don't enjoy hearing you bad mouth yourself James, but get to the point," Kacie said tiredly.

"Despite all of that, you trust me, don't you?" James asked.

Kacie looked him in the eyes. "Perhaps…"

"Do you _really _think I would make a guy stay away from you if he wasn't a real jerk and up to something?" James asked.

Kacie kept looking into his eyes and after what seemed like an eternity, she sighed. "I do trust your judgment."

"So can you please just trust me on this one and realize that there are hundreds of other guys out there who are waiting for their chance with Kacie Hunter?" James asked, putting his arms around Kacie and giving her a hug.

Kacie smiled. "I don't understand why Lily hates you so much."

"And I don't understand Lily _at all_."

"So tell me," Kacie said, walking up to the commons room with James. "Just how much do you intend to spike the Christmas punch this year?" And Kacie joined in as James laughed.

* * *

"Bad news Padfoot," James said a few days later, walking into the commons room. 

"All the girls at Hogwarts are being transferred to another school?" Sirius asked, obviously worried.

"Um…no," James said.

Sirius breathed out a sigh of relief. "Oh thank god."

James rolled his eyes. "My parents are going away for Christmas, so we're not going home this year."

Sirius shrugged. "That's fine. We haven't had a Christmas here at Hogwarts for awhile."

"Do you guys know if Evans is going home?" James asked. His friends shrugged. "Ugh, I hope so."

"If she is, we can celebrate our Christmas in your commons room," Peter noted.

"I'm sure Evans would come back and dust for fingerprints or something," James muttered.

Just then, Kacie and Gigi walked in and Sirius let out a groan. "I really hope Giliba goes home."

"Okay, I need to know once and for all, what the hell happened with you two?" Remus asked. "You two were good friends and inseparable up until last year."

Sirius shrugged, obviously not wanting to talk about it. "She's a bitch. She's self-centered, arrogant, uses all the people she dates, and thinks she's the queen of the world."

James, Remus, and Peter exchanged glances and burst out laughing. "What?" Sirius asked.

"She's _you _in a skirt," James noted.

"Giliba and I are _nothing _alike!" Sirius asserted.

"You're the same person but with different body parts," Remus said. The other three looked at him in astonishment. "What? It's _true_."

"But I never expected that phrase to come out of your mouth," James said and then turned to Sirius. "Do you think the girls are coming to the party?"

"Do you really think Giliba would miss an opportunity to get really drunk, strip dance on the tables, and have sex with random guys?" Sirius asked.

James rolled his eyes, not wanting to get into an argument about Gigi. "But what about Lily? Last time I checked, she didn't like getting drunk, dancing on tables, or having sex with guys."

"She'll still come," Sirius said. "Giliba and Kacie will make her."

James groaned, but didn't say anything else on the subject. He turned back to his other friends. "What are you guys getting the girls for Christmas?"

"I know what I'm getting Lily," Sirius said with a smirk.

"A blow up doll is _not _an acceptable gift," Remus said.

"It can be!" Sirius insisted.

Remus rolled his eyes. "I have to go into Hogsmeade and find something for them."

"We should all go," James offered.

"Don't we _always _go together?" Sirius asked.

"True," James said.

"Maybe I'll just get them all books," Peter suggested.

"That's a bad idea," Sirius said. "May as well get them _socks. _No one likes getting books for Christmas."

"Lily does," Remus said.

"That's a good idea Peter," Sirius rephrased.

* * *

"You're late," Lily said, not bothering to look up from what she was doing. 

"Aren't I always?" James mumbled, sliding into a seat in the corner.

"Don't you know the meaning of punctual or do I need to buy you a dictionary?" Lily asked.

"Why bother? I can just ask you. I'm sure you read it front to back every day," James mumbled.

"I spend my days studying and doing homework to get good marks," Lily said stubbornly.

"So do I," James said. "I can get good marks in my sleep."

"Which you usually do," Lily muttered.

"_What _is your problem Evans?" James cried out.

Lily glared at him. "How does it make us look if we are here _after _the prefects? Wait, let me rephrase that. How does it make us look if _you _are here after the prefects?" Lily burst out.

James looked around to see that the only one there was Lily. "I'm _not _here after the prefects."

"Well _now _there's no one here," Lily said. "But if you keep showing up late, you will arrive after the prefects at some point."

"And so what?" James asked.

"What?"

"If I come here a little after a prefect, will a huge black hole swallow the Earth? Will I get hit by lightening? Will thousands of locusts start eating away at our bodies?" James asked.

"You're not taking me seriously," Lily said sternly.

"That's because it looks to me as if you're _not _serious," James muttered. "It's not a big deal if I arrive after everyone else."

Lily slammed her book down. "Yes it is! You're supposed to set an example! A good Head Boy should be able to arrive at the right time!"

"And a good Head Girl shouldn't let her personal life interfere with running prefect meetings!"

"What are you _talking _about?" Lily demanded to know.

"You're just picking a fight with me," James said. "Just because you're angry at me."

"I am _not _picking a fight with you," Lily said. "It's just about time I told you off for always being late."

"You can't tell me what to do Evans," James snapped. "That's what my _mom _is for."

"Well it looks as if you didn't listen to her ever because look how you turned out," Lily yelled.

"I turned out better than _you!_" James shouted. "What the hell did _your _mother do to make you turn out this way?"

Lily slapped James hard across the face as a few prefects started piling in.

"Uh…is this a bad time?" one of them asked.

Lily and James just glared at each other but didn't say anything.

"I'd take that as a yes," the other prefect whispered.

* * *

"I'm such an idiot," James said, pacing back and forth the next morning. 

"Okay, you've said that ten times now," Sirius noted. "We all know you're an idiot, so you're going to have to elaborate."

James stopped pacing and looked his friends in the eyes. "I kind of ridiculed Lily's mother."

Peter, Remus, and Sirius all stared at him wide eyed with dropped jaws. "You're not just an idiot, you're a _jerk_."

"I didn't mean to!" James wailed. "She was making fun of my mum so it just slipped out."

"Well it was a very jerky remark," Sirius pointed out. James glared at him. "Right, right. I'm not helping."

"She's never gonna talk to me again," James mumbled.

"She wasn't talking to you anyway," Remus said. James glared at him. "Right, right. I'm not helping either."

"She slapped me. She actually _slapped _me," James said.

"You deserved it," Peter said. James glared at him as well. "Okay, I think it should be established that none of us are helping."

"I might as well be talking to a brick wall," James said. "At least I could hit my head on that and hopefully forget what I did."

"If you came closer to me, _I _could hit you," Sirius suggested. James gave him a glare. "Is there any point in mentioning that I am absolutely _no _help?"

"No, we pretty much already know that," Remus said.

James started pacing again. "It's not so bad when Evans and I are both mad at each other but when I say something like that, I'm not mad at her anymore. I'm mad at my_self_. It doesn't matter how mad I am at someone or how much I don't want to be around them, there is no justification to say something like that."

"Can't you just apologize?" Peter advised.

"Evans refuses to be anywhere that is fifty feet near me," James said. "She even skipped breakfast because she didn't want to be in the same room with me. Ugh, I'm such an idiot!"

"Don't forget how you're such jerk," Sirius said. All three of his friends looked at him. "I don't know why you guys are friends with me."

"Me neither," James muttered jokingly.

"I'm sure Lily would understand if you profusely apologized," Sirius said. "But I would do it in a note…that way she can't slap you again."

"She won't understand," James said, flopping into the chair. "I made fun of her parents. Her parents died a year ago and I made _fun _of them." James buried his head in his hands. "I'm so awful."

"Some might call you an idiot and a jerk," Sirius said. James looked up from his hands and glared at Sirius. Sirius turned to Remus. "Okay Remus, you say things now."

Remus looked to James. "I think it's best to just leave her alone for awhile. She obviously doesn't want to talk to you and if you bug her trying to apologize, she's just going to get more annoyed."

Sirius stared at Remus in amazement. "Why don't you talk more often?"

"Because you're too busy talking over me," Remus said.

"I don't talk over you," Sirius insisted.

"Yes you do. You always-"

"When have I _ever _talked over you?" Sirius asked.

"Well, right now yo-"

"Am I _really _that annoying?" Sirius asked.

Remus turned to James. "You _really _need a new best friend."

"Hey!" Sirius exclaimed. "Don't talk when _I'm _talking!"

James rolled his eyes and turned to Remus. "I guess it's best to just stay clear of Evans," James muttered. "It won't be hard."

"Why?" Sirius wondered.

"Because she's staying clear of _me_."

"It's like hide-and-seek!" Sirius exclaimed. "Well, without the seek part."

"In no way is this hide-and-seek," James said.

"I know, but hide-and-seek is fun," Sirius said. "And no offense James, but your life is boring. I was just trying to make it seem more exciting."

"Hey, what's wrong with Nancie?" Remus asked, watching as Nancie stomped into the commons room and up the stairs to her room.

James looked up and shrugged. "I have no idea."

"Uh…don't you think you should find out?" Peter asked.

"Why?"

"Because usually when your girlfriend-" Peter started.

"She's not my girlfriend."

"Oookay, but usually when the girl you're having sex with is upset, you should act like you care about her a little bit," Peter said with a shrug. "I mean, you do spend almost three to four nights a week with her."

James shrugged. "I'm sure she'll tell me when she wants to."

"You are _such _a pig," Remus muttered.

James looked shocked and turned to Sirius for help. Sirius just shrugged. "Don't look at me, Remus is talking for me, remember?"

"Care to explain that comment Moony?" James asked.

"Why are you with Nancie if you don't _care _about Nancie?" Remus asked. "You can't even bother to take five minutes out of your _non _busy schedule to find out what's wrong."

"It's not like I can go up there. Guys aren't _allowed _in girls rooms," James said.

"If that was Lily upset, you'd find a way up there," Remus mumbled to himself.

"Ex_cuse _me?" James asked. "I heard that!"

"That's because I said it out loud," Remus answered smugly.

"What's your problem?" James demanded to know.

Remus sighed and closed his book. "Do you not remember talking with me at the party in October and you realized that you _liked _Lily?"

"That was like a million years ago," James said.

"That was two months ago," Remus corrected.

"Yeah, whatever. Same thing," James mumbled.

"You never actually faced those feelings Prongs. You never-"

"'Faced those feelings?' What are you, my _therapist?_" James asked. "Face what feelings? I liked Evans for like two minutes one evening. And then I found Nancie, a girl I actually _did _like, and realized that there was no way in hell that I liked Evans. In fact-"

"You found _Nancie_? A girl you actually _did _like?" Remus repeated in disgust. "_Puh-_leaze. You just found the first thing wearing a skirt and decided to have sex with it so you could bury the feelings you had for Lily."

"Stop acting like you know me Remus!" James cried out. "You can't tell me who I like and who I don't like!" James gathered his books and trampled back to his room.

Remus watched James walk away and then turned to Sirius and Peter. "He so likes Lily."

* * *

James and Remus didn't talk for two days, until Remus realized that it was stupid to be fighting over something as stupid as whether James liked Lily or not. 

"Oh, hey Lily," Remus said, walking into the Head Commons Room. "Is James around?"

"I hope not," Lily muttered.

Remus sighed and sat down on a couch. "He didn't mean it, you know."

Lily didn't say anything, knowing full well what Remus was talking about and hoping that he would drop the subject.

"It just slipped out," Remus continued. Lily still didn't say anything; she made no motion to show that she had heard Remus. "He's just aggravated that you don't even try to be friends with him. The moment he slips up, you get angry at him. He's just upset that you don't give him a chance and-"

"Remus," Lily said, trying to say it as politely as possible. "I thought me not talking would give you the idea that _I don't want to talk about it_."

"I just thought you were deaf," Remus said with a shrug.

"And you kept talking anyway?" Lily mumbled.

"Look, he just-"

"And what do you mean I don't even try being friends with Potter? And that I don't give him a chance?" Lily asked, angry at herself for not ignoring Remus like she wanted to. "I have tried multiple times to be his friend. Either he hexes me, plays a prank on me, asks me out a hundred times, kisses another girl not twenty four hours after kissing me, ruins my dates, or ridicules my mother who died a year ago. I think I've given him ten times more chances than he deserves."

"Wow…you make him seem like a horrible person," Remus said. Lily gave him a look. "Okay, so maybe he's not the smartest guy, or the nicest guy, or even the most charming guy. But he does all of that because he doesn't know how to act around a girl he has real feelings for. He just-"

"He what?" Lily asked.

"He does all of that because…" Remus trailed off, realizing what he said. "Oh, what I mean is that he does all of that because he…well…erm…"

"You think Potter has _feelings _for me?" Lily spat out with a laugh.

"He does?" Remus exclaimed. Lily gave him a look and Remus sighed. "Okay, so maybe he does but-"

"The last time I checked when a guy has feelings for a girl, he doesn't make fun of her mum, annoy her to death, or go have sex with another girl."

"James did all of that because that's what he thinks he's supposed to do," Remus said. "I mean, look at who's best friends with! He learns all of that from Sirius."

Lily cracked a smile. "I think hearing this just makes the situation worse."

"Huh?"

"Oh c'mon. If Potter likes me, why is he so horrible to me? He can't just face his feelings and _talk _to me instead of using me, making fun of me, and yelling at me? I mean, what the hell is _wrong _with that boy?" Lily cried out.

"Okay, this was supposed to be a nice happy conversation…"

"Well, then you shouldn't have started talking about Potter!" Lily exclaimed.

"Yes, I know that now," Remus murmured.

"Can you do me a favor and just drown him in the lake?" Lily asked angrily.

"But he's my best friend…" Remus pointed out.

"I don't care!" Lily burst out.

Remus looked up at her. "I'll even persuade the giant squid to attack him."

Lily gave a slight smile. "Thanks Rem."

Just then, James walked in to see Remus and Lily hugging. James scowled. "Oh, what a lovely picture. If you guys start making out, can you please go somewhere else. Preferably somewhere near a high up rocky cliff."

"James-" Remus started.

"Why don't you go somewhere else?" Lily snapped. "I think that big rocky cliff is calling yourname."

"Evans, you-"

"Don't talk to me," Lily said immediately and then got up. She turned to Remus. "Nice talking to ya…although I still think you're dead wrong." And with that, she stomped out of the room to go find her friends.

"I don't know what she's talking about, but I bet she's correct when she says you're dead wrong," James muttered, walking towards his room.

"James," Remus said calmly. James stopped but didn't turn around. "I didn't mean to get on your case about Lily. Your love life is none of my business. I'm sorry for butting in."

James turned around and sat next to Remus. "It's fine, you're just looking out for me. Maybe I did have feelings for Lily, but when a girl completely yells at you and ignores you because she hates you, you learn to get over her."

Just then Sirius walked in and saw Remus and James talking to each other. "Aww, this is so cute. In about two minutes, you'll be holding hands!"

"Sirius," James said. "If you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all."

"But then I wouldn't ever talk again," Sirius said.

"Exactly," James saidand the three friends laughed together.

The portrait hole reopened to reveal Gigi and Lily standing there. Lily narrowed her eyes, "Potter."

"Evans," he answered coolly.

"Black," Gigi said haughtily.

"Giliba."

The girls turned on their heels and headed into Lily's room.

"Do you guys _know _their first names?" Remus joked.

Peter walked in at that moment. "Oh, hey guys."

The guys all narrowed their eyes. "Pettigrew," the answered meanly (obviously joking).

Peter looked at them in confusion as they started cracking up.

* * *

James practically fell off of Sirius's bed as Sirius walked out of the bathroom. "What the hell are you wearing?" 

"It's an elf costume," Sirius said with a grin.

"Looks more like a dwarf costume," Remus said with a snicker.

"Yeah, and I'd say you're looking like Dopey right now," James said with a laugh.

"I'm trying to get into the Christmas spirit!" Sirius cried out.

"I thought you did that by ignoring homework and instead you drink eggnog while singing Christmas carols at the top of your lungs," James said.

"I decided to mix it up a little this year," Sirius said with a shrug.

Peter looked at him suspiciously. "Which girl is making you do this?"

"What?" Sirius asked. "What makes you think a girl is forcing me to do this?"

James looked him over and turned to Remus and Peter. "I'm guessing it's Gabrielle."

"Gabrielle is _not _making be do this!" Sirius cried out. "…Susanna is."

The three boys burst out laughing. "You must _really _like this girl," Remus said.

"Nah," James said. "He just really wants to get lai-"

"I'm gonna go change now," Sirius said.

"Hey James?" a voice asked, walking into the room. Gigi stopped when she saw what Sirius was wearing. She burst out laughing and was almost rolling on the floor. "You totally just made my day Black."

"Go away Giliba," Sirius muttered.

"I never thought seeing you would actually make me _happy_," Gigi said between laughter.

"Leave us the hell alone," Sirius said through gritted teeth.

Gigi turned to the other boys. "Did you get a picture of this?"

"I _knew _there was something we were forgetting!" Remus cried out, digging in his desk for a camera.

"No pictures!" Sirius cried out. "I'm getting out of this thing."

"Okay Dopey!" James yelled after him.

"Shut the hell up," Sirius mumbled.

Remus turned to the others. "_Some_one's Grumpy."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

_The more reviews I get, the faster I'll write and post the next chapter! In the next chapter a huge party will occur, maybe people will realize the feelings they have for each other (will it be lily/james, sirius/gigi, remus/kacie, or any of those people and another character?), perhaps a little kissing will occur, and someone will leave Hogwarts (permanently or just for a little while? review and find out!)_


	9. Horribly Horrible, Traitor, and an Owl

**_Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 9_**

_thanks to everyone who reviewed! i'm taking a break from writing a paper (my first paper of this semester) and I take breaks my writing in the story. And I also take breaks my posting chapters! _

_Anyway, you don't wanna hear me talk, you wanna read the story. So here it is:_

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"Well we pulled it off," Sirius said to James, Remus, and Peter as they finished setting up and putting out the food and drinks.

"Of course we pulled it off," James said, rolling his eyes and giving Sirius a high five. "We _always _pull it off."

"SIRIUS BLACK! JAMES POTTER!" a voice shrieked.

James turned to his friends. "I don't think we pulled it off."

"Yes professor?" Sirius asked innocently.

"What is all this?" Professor McGonagall insisted to know.

"Well, that-" Sirius said, pointing to the couch. "Is a couch, and that is a book, and that-"

"Don't be smart with me," Professor McGonagall exclaimed.

"But Professor, I'm _always _smart," Sirius said suavely. Professor McGonagall gave him a stern look. Sirius turned to Remus and whispered, "Seriously, _you_ talk now."

"Why is there food and drinks sitting out? And why is music playing?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"We're hungry," James said.

"There's tons of food!" she exclaimed.

"_Really _hungry," Sirius corrected.

"Professor," Remus spoke up. "Christmas is in a few days. Classes are over. Don't you think it's okay if we had a small party, where no one got hurt, no one did anything stupid, but people just laid back and had some fun?"

"That's not gonna work," Sirius whispered in Remus's ear, rolling his eyes at the thought.

Professor McGonagall paused to think about what Remus said. "I guess if you're here to keep the party under control, it won't be too bad…"

Sirius turned to Remus in awe and whispered,"It worked."

Professor McGonagall turned to look at James and Sirius who gave innocent grins. "I don't trust you two."

"You never have," Sirius pointed out with a smile. Professor McGonagall lingered for a moment and then left the room.

"No one gets hurt? No one does anything stupid?" James asked, turning to Remus. "What kind of idiotic party is that?"

"Should I get out the Twister?" Remus teased. "Oh come on, so I lied to a professor. Big deal. I blame you guys, you know."

James and Sirius slapped high fives. "We corrupted him!"

"So do you think we can have a nice party and not get into a fight with the girls?" Peter asked James and Sirius.

James and Sirius exchanged looks and turned back to Peter. "No."

Peter shrugged and looked at Remus. "It was worth a try."

* * *

"Wow, Evans looks gorgeous," James said with a sigh. 

Sirius looked at James and rolled his eyes. "Oh come on she's not gorgeous. She's just okay. I mean there are so many other people who are more gorgeous than Lily. Like Kacie…where did she get clothes like that? She's a total babe! But Lily? No way, she's just…okay."

"She's gorgeous."

Sirius opened his mouth to retort but quickly shut it. "Do you want me to pour punch down her front to make her look sloppy and ugly?"

"_No_ I don't want you to pour punch down her front," James said tiredly as he watched Lily flirt with a guy. "Well…maybe one cup."

Sirius grinned. "So…still not over her huh?"

James snapped back into reality and stopped staring at Lily. "What are you talking about?"

"You fancy her right?"

"What? No way!" James exclaimed.

"James, you and Nancie pretty much broke up last week. You asked Lily out every day last year. You wrote Lily Evans all over your parchment for at least you two years. How could you _not _like her?"

"Ever hear of a _joke_ Padfoot?"

"Ever hear of a _crush _Prongs?" Sirius said smugly.

"Ever hear of a _hex _Padfoot?" James asked, getting out his wand.

"Ever hear of a-"

"This could go on forever," James interrupted.

"Yeah. Let's just get it out in the open. You like Lily and that's the end of it," Sirius said walking away.

"Yup," James said and then thought about what Sirius said. "Wait no! Come back here Si!"

"Sirius causing problems again?" Remus asked, coming up and handing James a cup of punch.

"Isn't he always?" James groaned.

"Well…not always. I mean he only causes problems…" Remus trailed off, looking for the right word.

"The word you're looking for is _always_," James said with a smirk.

"Yeah, always pretty much sums it up," Remus said with a laugh.

* * *

"You excited for winter break Lils?" James asked. 

"Don't call me Lils," Lily insisted. "And anything to get me away from you excites me." She then turned around to talk back to her friend.

"Oh so you're going home?"

Lily stopped and whirled around. "I thought you said _you _were going home."

James shrugged. "Things change."

"I wish you moving to China was one of those things," Lily grumbled.

James shrugged. "Sorry Lils."

"Don't call me Lils," Lily repeated.

"I see you and James are getting along better than ever," Sirius said sarcastically. 

"And I see you are as oblivious and dumb as ever," Lily joked. Sirius laughed.

"You two _have _to get along," Sirius insisted.

"And why's that Sirius?" James demanded to know.

"Because it's Christmas!" Sirius exclaimed.

"So?" they both asked.

"Just think of the baby Jesus coming 'round the mountain to huff and puff and blow the houses down so he can see the three wise men spin the dradle to see if there's six more weeks of winter," Sirius said.

Lily turned to James with a blank stare who shook his head. "We don't even try to understand him," James said.

"Sirius, I think the baby Jesus won't be too upset if we don't get along," Lily said.

"The three wise man won't have much of a problem either," James added. Sirius groaned but didn't say anything because James walked off.

"Hey Black, why don't you go do me a favor," a voice said, coming up from behind Lily.

"What would that be Giliba?" Sirius asked.

"Jump off a building," Gigi said with a smirk.

"I wouldn't do you a favor if it was either that or die," Sirius sneered.

"I wouldn't _want _you to do me a favor if the other choice was death," Gigi said. Sirius glared at Gigi and sauntered off.

Lily stared at her best friend with a smile.

"Gigi, you're so horrible," Lily said.

"He's a jerk."

"But I never knew you could be that horrible. What has he done to you to make you so horrible and awful and completely horribly…horrible," Lily said.

"Remind me to buy you a thesaurus for Christmas," Gigi said with a smile.

"Hey! I know lots of words and…stuff," Lily said.

"Buy her a dictionary while you're at it," Kacie said, coming up from behind them and looping her arms around her two best friends.

* * *

"I wouldn't drink that if I were you," Lily advised to a third year. 

The third year looked at her cautiously. "Why's that?"

"Because I saw Sirius Black spike it a little over an hour ago," Lily said with a shrug. "And take my word for it, you're not ready for what that tastes like." The third year looked at her apprehensively and then put the cup down and walked away.

"Awww, you're ruining my fun Lily," Sirius said, walking over from the dance floor.

"When are you going to grow up Sirius?" Lily asked with a laugh.

"When are you going to try my punch?" Sirius asked.

"When you grow up," Lily said.

Sirius thought about that. "Well then it looks like you will never trymy punch."

Lily laughed. "So Si, when are you going to ask me to dance?"

"I only dance with girls I intend to bring up to my room," Sirius said. "And as hott as you're looking right now, you're not one of those girls."

Lily laughed. "I'm so touched," Lily said fakely. "So you don't dance with your friends?"

"Not when my best friend has a crush on them," Sirius said.

"Ugh, if you tell me one more time that Potter likes me, I may have to break your neck," Lily said.

Sirius was silent for a moment. "Is that before or after we dance?"

Lily laughed and led Sirius to the dance floor. "Potter won't care if he sees you dancing with me."

* * *

"Traitor," James muttered. "Backstabber, ex-best friend, jerk, prat-" 

"What are you mumbling under your breath?" Remus asked.

"Oh nothing," James said innocently.

James glanced over and watched Lily laugh at something Sirius said. "Sirius, you're so mean," Lily giggled.

"Hey, it's not like I was born this way," Sirius said with a shrug. "So can I ask you a question?"

"No."

"Why do you get along great with me but you can't stand my best friend?" Sirius asked.

"I don't want to talk about Potter," Lily said.

"Lily, I know you don't see it, but James is a great guy and for some strange reason, he actually likes you," Sirius said.

"Wrong," Lily said. "He likes the thrill of the chase. I keep saying no, and it's some sick game to him to keep asking. The moment I say yes, he'll lose interest."

"No," Sirius insisted. "Why can't you just give him a chance?"

"Sirius, friends don't let friends be friends with Potter," Lily said.

"I'm not even going to pretend that I understood that sentence," Sirius said. "Come on Lily. Just hold a conversation with him, that's all I'm asking. Do it for me, please?"

Lily looked at Sirius for a few seconds and sighed. "If I try being nice to him will you leave me alone?"

"No."

Lily grinned. "It was worth a try."

* * *

"Why aren't ya dancing with some blonde haired blue eyed big boobed bimbo?" a voice asked, causing James to turn around. 

James looked around him and then pointed to himself. "You talking to me?"

"Well I'm certainly not talking to myself," Lily said.

"I wouldn't doubt it if you were," James said. "And I'm not dancing with anyone because I just spent all night dancing. I needed a break." James turned to Lily. "I saw that you and Sirius were dancing a lot."

"It was either that or listen to him talk," Lily said.

"Ah, I would've chosen dancing with Sirius also," James said, making Lily laugh. "So why were you really dancing with him? Do you like him?"

"Why do you care?" Lily asked.

"I'm just wondering if I should stay out of the bedroom tonight," James said with a grin.

"You have your own bedroom, the Head Boy room," Lily said. "And stay out of the bedroom? Could you _be_ any cruder?"

"Hey, I'm just wondering what's going on with you two," James said.

"I'm trying to be nice and all you can do is make stupid comments about me having sex with Sirius," Lily exclaimed.

"Nice? You think coming over here and insulting me by saying all I do is dance with blonde bimbos is being _nice_?" James asked. "I think you need to look nice up in the dictionary Evans."

"Well we know for certain that we wouldn't see a picture of _you_," Lily sneered.

"Look up _bitch _and you'd find a picture of _you_," James claimed.

"You're impossible to get along with!" Lily cried out.

"It's because you make it impossible for anyone to be _nice _to you!"

"Sirius doesn't have a problem with being nice to me! Maybe I'll go find him!"

"Don't forget to use a condom!" James cried out, making most people look up from what they were doing. "Obviously that was your parents' mistake!"

Lily glared at James and stomped off. "Where's that punch?" Lily asked as she ran into Sirius.

"The punch is spiked Lily," Sirius said.

"So?"

"You don't drink," Sirius stated.

"I do now!" Lily cried out.

"Lily, don't drink just because you-" Sirius started.

Lily stopped walking and gave Sirius a death stare. "Where's the punch?"

Sirius didn't even have the nerve to say anything, he just pointed. Sirius marched over to James. "Dude, seriously, what the hell was that about?"

"Why don't you ask the girl with the stick up her ass," James mumbled.

"I'm looking at her," Sirius said, staring right at James. "Embarrassing her in front of all the Gryffindors? What are you, _twelve?_"

"She started it," James said.

"Wow, you _are _twelve," Sirius mumbled. "And I highly doubt that she started it."

"Look, it doesn't matter okay?" James muttered. "Let her get wasted. It's about time she learns how to have fun."

"She was having plenty of fun," Sirius said.

"Yeah, dancing with _you_," James said, turning to face Sirius. "What the hell was that about? I thought you and Lily never danced. I thought you were just casual acquaintances."

"Casual acquaintances?" Sirius asked with a laugh. "James, you two may not be able to get along, but Lily and I have been friends for quite a while now."

"Which totally goes against the Marauder rule," James muttered.

"What rule?"

"If an enemy with one, than an enemy with everyone," James said.

"That's not the Marauder rule," Sirius said.

"Oh yeah? Then what is?"

"Stay out of the bedroom when Sirius is getting lai-"

"Go away Padfoot," James said, but there was a hint of a smile.

* * *

"What the hell did you do?" Gigi demanded to know, stomping over and stopping right in front of Sirius. She looked up into his eyes. Sirius was amused at how angry she looked, arms crossed against her chest, narrowed eyebrows, and veins popping out of her forehead. He was also amused that he towered over her, being a foot taller than her and everything. 

"What are you talking about?" Sirius asked.

"Lily _never _drinks," Gigi said. "And then you dance with her for an hour or so and she's totally crazy, gulping down spiked punch as if it were her last drink on earth. So I'm asking you, what the hell did you do to her?"

"I didn't do anything to her Giliba," Sirius said. "Five minutes talking to James got her that way."

"Why did you let her _near _him?" Gigi asked. "You know them talking to each other is never a good sign."

"Why the hell is everything my fault?" Sirius cried out. "Lily has a mind of her own. She talked to him willingly!"

"Lily talk to James willingly?" Gigi exclaimed. "There's a sentence that has _never _been uttered! You totally made her talk to him!"

"They should be able to get along!" Sirius burst out.

"Some people just can't get along no matter what," Gigi said.

"Like us?"

"We're different," Gigi said. "You _forced_ me to hate you."

"I did not!" Sirius insisted. "All I did wa-"

"I don't want to talk about it," Gigi said icily and then stomped off.

* * *

"Hey!" Lily cried out as James took her drink out of her hand. 

"Lily, that has got to be your hundredth cup," James pointed out.

"Is not," Lily protested.

"How would you know? You probably lost count after your tenth cup," James said.

"Wrong," Lily said. "I lost count after my sixth cup."

"Well either way, you need to stop drinking," James said, throwing her cup away.

"You can't tell me what to do," Lily said.

"I can if you're real close to killing yourself with alcohol," James said.

"Whose fault is it that I'm drinking alcohol anyway huh?" Lily said harshly.

"Sirius's."

"Oh and I'm sure you had nothing to do with it," Lily said.

James opened his mouth to retort but then shut it. "Good point."

"Look, I'm not a baby okay? There's no need to take care of me," Lily said haughtily.

"Lily, you're not in great shape right now."

Lily whirled around and looked him straight in the eye. "Who do you think you are, huh? Acting like you care about me? You don't even _know _me so why don't you just leave me alone!" Lily pushed James and started walking away but he grabbed her arm.

"Look, you're drunk," James said. "Why don't we-"

"We?" Lily asked, jerking her arm away. "There is no we. There's a me and a you, but there's no _we_. Stop acting like you care about me!"

James grabbed her arm and hissed into her ear, "Stop making a scene and come with me."

Lily laughed evilly. "You have _got _to be kidding me."

James didn't wait for her to say anything else because he pulled her out of the commons room.

"Hey!" Lily exclaimed, jerking her arm away from James once again. "Stop protecting me Potter."

"Shhh," James jeered. "We're not in the commons room anymore. A professor could hear us."

"Well then why the hell did you take me out here?" Lily asked, walking away from James.

"Where are you going?" James called out, throwing his hands up in frustration.

"Away from _you_," Lily said.

"Oh no you're not," James mumbled and followed her. Under much protestation, he was finally able to get Lily to her Head room. He plopped her down on the bed. He sighed and started to leave until he heard her speak up.

"Why are you doing this?"

James turned around and shrugged. "Because it's my fault you started drinking, so I figured I could at least be nice and get you back safely."

"I wasn't drinking because of you," Lily said.

"Yes you were."

Lily opened her mouth to protest, but knew he was right. "Okay, maybe a little." They both laughed. "But a lot of stuff has been happening to me lately and drinking my problems away seemed best."

"That is not a good solution," James said, sitting down on the bed beside Lily.

"Seems to work real well for you," Lily said.

James ignored her comment. "So let me ask you a question," James said. "How come you get along so well with Sirius but you can't seem to be nice to me?"

"Because Sirius isn't a pompous egotistical jerk," Lily said.

"I'm sorry I asked," James mumbled.

"It's true," Lily said. "You get some satisfaction in asking me out every chance you get. You like me because you like the thrill you get from chasing after me. The moment I say yes, you'll ignore me and pretend I don't exist. Either that, or you'll attempt to sleep with me and then pretend it didn't happen. You don't even know me but you feel that you have to protect me and you're a real player who thinks-"

"I get it!" James cried out, jumping off the bed. "You think I'm a horrible person and want nothing to do with me." James sighed. "I get it." James started walking out.

"Well…_isn't_ that what you're all about?" Lily asked.

James sighed once again and walked over to the bed but didn't sit down. "No…you've got me all wrong. I don't sleep with every person I see, that's _Sirius. _I don't use girls…anymore. I don't like the thrill of the chase, I like_ you_. I protect you because I actually _care _about you. I don't know why I care for you because all you do is yell at me and make me feel like an awful person, but I do. Lily, don't you think any other guy would have given up and moved on? I figured that after many years, you'd understand that this isn't a game to me."

Lily looked at him sincerely and before she could stop herself, she pulled him down to the bed and started kissing him.

* * *

"Where's Lily?" Kacie asked Gigi. 

Gigi gulped down her punch and shrugged. "How the hell should I know?"

"Hey Si?" Kacie asked, grabbing his arm as he walked by. "Do you know where Lily is?"

"I saw James bring her back to her room an hour or so ago," Sirius said with a shrug.

"_There's _a recipe for disaster," Gigi muttered.

"So, are you going home for winter break?" Kacie asked Sirius.

"Nope, James and I are staying here," Sirius said. "So you get to enjoy my company all break long."

"Excuse me if I don't jump for joy," Gigi grumbled.

"Hey, no one was talking to you Giliba," Sirius snapped.

"I didn't say you were," Gigi sneered.

"Yeah, well-"

"Guys!" Kacie exclaimed. "Can't we get through one night without you two biting each other's heads off?"

"No," the answered simultaneously.

"Well…at least you agreed on something," Kacie muttered. "That's a start."

"Where's James?" Remus asked, bringing over a garbage bag and handing it to Sirius.

Sirius groaned. "Probably getting out of clean-up."

"He left with Lily," Peter responded.

"Him and Lily?" Remus asked.

"Yup."

"Together?" Remus wondered.

"They were yelling," Peter clarified.

"Ooooh," Remus said.

Kacie grabbed a few empty cups and threw them into the trash bag. "So, Lily was pretty drunk huh?"

"Drunk is an understatement," Gigi murmured. "If _some_one hadn't spiked the punch, it wouldn't be a problem."

"And if _some_one had a problem with my punch, perhaps she shouldn't have had so many cups herself," Sirius muttered.

Remus chose to ignore their bickering. "Should we have let James take Lily back to her room when Lily is that drunk?" Remus asked. The five friends exchanged worried looks.

* * *

Although James was taken aback by Lily kissing him, he didn't protest. He pushed Lily against the bed and kissed her intensely. Lily groaned as his tongue entered her mouth. Lily started kissing him more passionately and tightened her arms around his back. James pulled out of her mouth and dropped kisses down her neck and smiled a little as he watched Lily moan. Lily looked straight into James's eyes and reached for the buttons on James's shirt. 

"Wait, Lily," James said, breathing heavily. Lily didn't listen to him, and started pulling off her shirt. "Lily, you're drunk."

Lily shook her head furiously and started to pull James's shirt off, but he grabbed her hand. "Lily, I'm not taking advantage of you like this. You're drunk and-"

"Oh god, stop being a _girl_," Lily insisted, dropping her hands from his body.

"Now _there's _a way to get into my pants," James said sarcastically.

"I'm not that drunk James."

"Nine glasses of spiked punch completely contradicts that statement," James said.

"James, I _know _what I'm doing," Lily said.

"I don't think you do…considering you just called me _James_," James said.

"If I was that drunk, don't you think I'd be throwing up or blacking out right about now?" Lily asked. James and Lily just looked into each others eyes sincerely and finally, James gave in. James sighed, knowing this was Lily's first time, but he looked into her green eyes and before his conscience could take over, he brought his mouth to hers, and undid her bra strap.

* * *

Lily groaned as she woke up the next morning. She rubbed her head, trying hard to remember why it hurt so much. She opened her eyes and grunted as the light shined into them. She laid there for a few minutes trying to comprehend what happened. It took her a few minutes but she remembered the details of what happened very well. At first she groaned but then she realized that she didn't regret what happened at all. So instead, she smiled and turned over to look at James but was surprised when she didn't see him there. 

"James?" Lily called out, but he didn't respond. Lily took the sheets to cover herself up and walked into the other room and screamed at what she saw. "Sirius?"

Sirius turned around and just burst out laughing. "My little Lily is growing up."

"What the hell are you doing here?" Lily asked, growing red from embarrassment.

"Laughing at you," Sirius said. He burst out laughing again. "Lily, I told you to try talking to him, not to jump into bed with him."

"Okay, you need to leave," Lily said, practically pushing Sirius out the door.

"This is as much my room as it is yours," Sirius called out over his shoulder.

"Nooo, it's as much _James's _as it is mine," Lily exclaimed, shutting the door in his face. Lily turned around and walked into James's room, but he wasn't there. She went over to his bed and sat down on it. She sighed and flopped her head down on the bed and closed her eyes.

* * *

"Hey Sirius?" Lily asked, coming into the Great Hall an hour later. 

Sirius grinned. "Yes dear Lily?"

"Do you know where James is?"

"Well…if my memory serves me, _you _were the last one to see him," Sirius said, still grinning.

"Okay you really need to wipe that grin off your face," Lily said. She groaned and sat down.

"You look terrible," Remus said.

"I _feel _terrible," Lily grumbled, rubbing her forehead.

"There you are Lil," Gigi said, entering the Great Hall with Kacie. "We were waiting for you before we went to breakfast. You slept really late."

"She's hungover, what do you expect?" Peter asked.

"You did drink a _lot_," Kacie added.

"Don't remind me," Lily said, grabbing a piece of sausage and stuffing it in her mouth.

"Where's James?" Kacie asked.

Remus shrugged. "Don't know, haven't seen him since last night."

All eyes turned to Lily who was busy picking up another piece of sausage. She looked up and saw five pairs of eyes staring at her. "Don't look at me, I have no idea where he is."

"You saw him last," Remus said.

"I know! James and I were together last night. I get it! I'm the last to see him, yay for me! Now, can we _please _talk about something else?" Lily cried out in a sudden outburst. Everyone (minus Sirius) just stared at her like she had three heads.

"Um…are you okay Lily?" Gigi had the nerve to ask.

"Fine," she mumbled. They all ate in silence until Sirius got an owl a few minutes later.

"Who's it from?" Remus asked.

"James," Sirius said, he read the letter as everyone else went back to eating. Sirius gasped and looked up with an astonished look on his face. "He's gone."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

_I amsooo evil! _

_the more reviews I get, the faster I'll post the next chapter...I promise! _

_why did James leave? where did he go? when will he come back? will he come back? what will happen with James and Lily? will I get a good grade on my paper? (oops...how'd that question get there?) haha, you better review if you want to find out the answers to all these questions and if you want me to post faster._


	10. Geranimo, Mom's Eggnog, and Regret

**_Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 10_**

_Apparently a lot of you weren't happy with the way I ended the last chapter... haha. So here it is: Where James is, how Lily reacts, and a little tension between the Mauraders and the three girls. _

_D-didn't have any part in coming up with the Harry Potter plot/characters  
I- I wish I was the famous JK Rowling, but I'm not  
S- sorry if you were confused about whether I was JK Rowling or not  
C- can't take credit for most of the characters  
L-looks like you'll have to resort to reading my stories til the 7th Harry Potter book is out  
A- are you annoyed by this disclaimer yet?  
I- isn't it about time you skipped this part and went straight to reading my story?  
M-maybe you should just read previous disclaimers...its a lot faster  
E-everyone understand that only the plot and unrecognizable characters belong to me?  
R- right, so main point: i'm not JK Rowling. _

_Now...on to the story!_

_If you recall, the last chapter stopped here:_

They all ate in silence until Sirius got an owl a few minutes later.

"Who's it from?" Remus asked.

"James," Sirius said. He read the letter as everyone else went back to eating. Sirius gasped and looked up with an astonished look on his face. "He's gone."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"What?" The friends burst out.

"He left for winter break," Sirius said, skimming the letter again.

"I thought he was going to stay here," Kacie said.

"He was," Sirius said, swatting at the owl to leave."Hey! Give me my bacon back!"

"Black, you're talking to an owl," Gigi said.

"And there's plenty more bacon," Remus said.

Sirius pouted. "But I wanted _that _piece."

"Can we get back to James?" Remus asked impatiently.

"Can we get my bacon back from that insane bird?" Sirius asked.

"Doesthe lettersay whyJames left?" Peter questioned.

Sirius shook his head. "He just says that he had to go home for winter break and he's not sure if he'll be back when classes start up again."

"Why?" Gigi questioned.

Lily couldn't take it anymore. She pushed her plate forward angrily, got up from the table in a hurry, and stomped out of the Great Hall.

"What's up with her?" Remus asked.

"Must be the weird side effects of Lily drinking alcohol for the first time," Gigi noted.

Sirius looked at Lily stomp out, and he too got up to leave.

"Hey! Where ya going?" Remus called out.

"I'll be right back," Sirius called out. He handed them all the letter toread and then ran to catch up with Lily. "Lily?"

"Leave me alone," Lily snapped.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Lily barked.

"Lily…" Sirius warned.

"I'm trying real hard not to read too much into this situation," Lily said but then she sighed. "But it's not really working."

"What situation?"

"James leaving," Lily said with a sigh.

"Wait…you think he left because of _you_?" Sirius asked.

Lily gave him a "duh" look.

"James didn't leave because of you Lily," Sirius said.

"Oh yeah?" Lily asked. "How many other times did he run away right after he had _sex _with a girl? Oh wait, that's right, _never!_'

"Lily, he didn't wake up and think 'hmm, perhaps I'll go home so I can get away from Lily,'" Sirius said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh really?" Lily asked. "Did he list a reason for going home?"

"Well, erm…no," Sirius said.

"If there was any other reason besides the fact that he wanted to get away from me, don't you think he would have _told _you?" Lily asked.

"Lily, something probably came up," Sirius said.

"Oh stop being so ignorant Sirius," Lily snapped.

"Come on Lily," Sirius said. "Don't be so hostile, you ju-"

"You're a guy, you wouldn't understand," Lily said.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that having sex to guys is no big deal," Lily said. "You'll do it anywhere, with anyone, at anytime."

"Ex_cuse _me?"

"Especially you and James! It's like you have a game going. Who can be the biggest asshole and get the most girls in bed with them before Hogwarts ends," Lily snapped.

Sirius's mouth dropped wide open. "I can_not _believe you just said that."

"Oh give it _up _Sirius, it's true," Lily said. "I bet you can't even tell me the name of the girl you last slept with."

Sirius opened his mouth to reply but then realized she was right. "Well…she…we…okay, that is _so _not the point!"

"Face it, James slept with me to fulfill some dream of his and then he left so he didn't have to face me," Lily said. "He probably thought I was too drunk to remember anyway."

"Lily, you honestly can't think tha-"

"You know, I blame you."

"Me? What the hell did _I _do?" Sirius asked.

"You _forced _me to talk to him. You _forced _me to try and be nice," Lily said.

"Yes, but I didn't force you into _bed _with him!" Sirius cried out.

"You tried to get me to be nice to him," Lily explained. "You tried to get me to be nice to a guy who only thinks about _sex_. What the hell did you _think _would happen?"

"I thought you'd have a nice chat, maybe laugh, and then move on with your lives!" Sirius shouted.

"Well obviously you were dead wrong!" Lily screamed.

"I can_not _believe you are blaming this on me!" Sirius cried out.

"I'm blaming it on you because it's all your fault!" Lily exclaimed.

"Why don't you just admit that maybe it's _your _fault!" Sirius shouted. "_You're _the one who fuckin' slept with him!"

"Go to hell!" Lily burst out.

"Right back at ya!" Sirius shouted and then stomped up to the owlery.

* * *

Lily sat in her bed sobbing, trying hard not to think about her fight with Sirius, and especially trying not to think about James. Christmas was two days away and it looked like this was going to be her worst Christmas ever. 

"Lily?" a voice asked, coming into the room.

Lily sniffled and looked up as Gigi entered the room. "Hey Gi."

"What's wrong?" Gigi asked, rushing to Gigi's side.

"You wouldn't understand," Lily said.

Gigi sighed and handed Lily a tissue. "Try me."

Lily wiped her tears away and tried smiling. "It doesn't matter. Let's go have some fun."

"Lily, you don't look in the mood to have fun," Gigi said.

"Come on," Lily said. "It's snowing. Let's go have a snowball fight, build a snowman, drink hot chocolate. We don't have classes, this is precious 'fun' time."

"Okay…but I'm afraid your tears will melt our snowman," Gigi said.

Lily paused. "Okay, no building a snowman." Gigi laughed at Lily's comment.

They started walking out before Gigi stopped. "Not even a hint about what's wrong?"

"Oh look, the snow is melting!" Lily cried out, linking arms with Gigi and pulling her along.

* * *

"Hey! No hitting the face, that's not f-" Gigi started before she got hit in the face with a snowball. "And apparently whatever I say doesn't matter." 

"Sissy!" Kacie cried out.

"Hey!" Gigi exclaimed. "No name calling!"

"Scardy-cat!" Kacie exclaimed.

"…and _still_ not listening to me," Gigi said. The three girls laughed and came together, sitting down on the ground.

Lily conjured up some hot chocolate and passed the mug around. "Do you think th-"

"GERANIMO!" a voice cried out and hit all three girls with a snowball. The three girls turned around to see Remus standing there with a sheepish grin. "Um…oops?"

"Oh you are _so _dead Remus Lupin!" Kacie cried out and started running after him. Lily and Gigi laughed as they gathered snowballs to pelt at Remus.

"Hey, no fair!" Remus cried out. "Three against one!"

"You should have thought about that be_fore _you threw a snowball at us," Gigi said with a grin. "Where are your friends? Your partners in crime?"

"Obviously fighting crime without me," Remus said. The girls laughed and Lily handed the mug of hot chocolate to Remus. "So, are you guys ready for Christmas?"

"It's the best time of year," Kacie said with a smile.

"Well you've never done Christmas Marauder style," Remus said with a smile.

"And we're not planning on doing so this year either," Lily interrupted.

"Huh?" Gigi and Kacie asked.

"Oh come on. Potter isn't here, Gi hates Sirius," Lily said with a shrug. "Seems easier to celebrate the way we always do."

"Opening presents by ourselves and pigging out on eggnog and fruitcake?" Gigi asked. "I'd rather take my chances with Black."

"Well I _don't _want to take my chances," Lily snapped and then stormed off.

The other three exchanged glances and none of them knew what to say. "Okay new suggestion. Marauder Christmas with_out _her?" Remus brought up.

"She's our best friend!" Gigi exclaimed.

"One Christmas with us and you'll _never _go back," Remus joked.

* * *

James sat at his desk looking at the blank piece of parchment. Well, blank isn't completely correct. He had two words written down, "_Dear Lily." _He picked up another piece of crumpled parchment and started throwing it up in the air and catching it. 

James jerked his head up when there was a knock at the door. "It's open," he mumbled. He looked up to see his older cousin standing there. "Hi Kellie."

Kellie looked James up and down. "Okay, who's the girl?"

James practically choked on air. "Um…excuse me?"

"Empty piece of parchment, stuck up here for two hours, crumpled pieces of paper all around," Kellie said with a shrug. "I'm no idiot, I _know _it's about a girl."

"It's not a girl," James insisted.

"Oh…so it's a boy?" Kellie joked.

"It's a girl," James quickly said making Kellie laugh.

"So who is she?"

"I don't feel comfortable talking to you about this," James muttered.

"Well, I'm not leaving," Kellie confirmed. "I bet you wouldn't feel so comfortable with me never leaving your room either."

James paused and thought about his options. "Her name is Lily and she hates me."

"I thought every girl at that school liked you," Kellie noted.

"Not this one," James mumbled. "But she got really drunk and I brought her back to her room and-"

"_Please _tell me you didn't take advantage of her," Kellie begged.

"No, no! Of course not," James exclaimed and then paused. "Well…maybe a little."

"James Potter!"

"But no, no!" James exclaimed.

"Okay, my head is spinning," Kellie joked.

"She was drunk, yes, but she wasn't that drunk. She remembers everything...okay, _most _things…about that night," James said. "And one thing let to another and…" James trailed off.

"And?"

"You're twenty-four Kel, I think you know what I'm talking about," James said.

"You're seventeen!" Kellie cried out.

"Oh I've been doing it since I was fifteen," James said with a shrug.

Kellie gasped. "And how many girls have you gotten pregnant?"

"Oh shut up," James said, throwing a piece of parchment at her.

"So what's so different about this one?" Kellie asked.

"I'm not sure," James said with a sigh. "She's just…different. She's smart, and funny, and witty, and is actually better at playing pranks than I am, and she's Head Girl with me, and she's just…perfect."

"Does she know that?"

James pointed to the empty parchment. "She will soon."

Kellie looked over at it. "So far it looks to me like all she'll know is that her name is Lily."

"Okay you: out," James said, pointing to the door. Kellie laughed but didn't get up. James sighed and walked over to her. He plopped down on his bed facing the ceiling. "The thing is…she was drunk. So maybe she's different to me, but to her it could have been a drunken mistake. So she could be repeating over and over to herself that it was stupid and that she hates me."

"I'm sure that isn't true," Kellie said, tossing a piece of crumpled piece of paperto James.

* * *

"I _hate _you!" Lily cried out, throwing James's pillow across the room. "I was so _right _about you!" Lily flung a picture of James with his three best friends across the room. 

"I don't think they appreciate that," a voice said from the entrance of James's room. Lily whirled around and sighed.

"We have _got _to get a new password," Lily mumbled.

"So, why do we hate James?" Gigi asked.

"None of your business," Lily snapped.

"Lily, come on," Gigi begged. "I'm your best friend."

"You wouldn't understand," Lily said.

"Why don't you just tell me what's wrong and I'll be the judge of whether or not I understand."

Lily sighed and sat down on James's bed. "I was drunk, James and I slept together, he got what he wanted, he went home so he wouldn't have to face me."

Gigi looked stunned and then burst out laughing.

"Okay, this is so _not _a laughing matter," Lily said angrily.

"Lily, have I ever told you the story of Black and I?" Gigi asked.

"There's a story?"

"We got drunk, we slept together, he had sex with another girl the next morning," Gigi said.

Lily was silent. "You should make that story into a children's book."

"Do children know what sex _is?_"

"I was being sarcastic Gi," Lily said.

"I wasn't," Gigi said with a laugh. "So don't tell me that I don't know the asshole side of the Marauders."

"Black really did that?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, but hey, it doesn't matter now," Gigi said with a shrug. "I'm completely fine hating him forever."

"Does he know why you hate him?"

"Yeah," Gigi said. "But do _not _tell him I told you that story. I don't want him thinking it was a big deal or anything."

"We aren't talking anyway," Lily said with a shrug.

"You aren't?" Gigi exclaimed.

"Nope…I finally see why you hate him so much," Lily muttered. Lily put her head into Gigi's lap and the tears started falling. "Everything's so screwed up."

"Sex does that," Gigi muttered, stroking Lily's hair.

"I was fine with hating Potter and being friends with Sirius," Lily said, wiping her tears away. "But then Potter had to go home to avoid me and Sirius had to walk in while I was wrapped up in sheets."

"Lily, I don't think James-"

"If you say you don't think he went home to avoid me, I will kill you."

"-wants tears to get all over his bed," Gigi ended.

Lily rolled her eyes. "He did go home because of me. He and Sirius spend every Christmas together and he specifically told me he wasn't going home. He told me he was going to stay here for Christmas. Then, early in the morning he suddenly changes his mind? The same morning after we have sex? There's no other explanation."

"There are _plenty _of other explanations," Gigi said. "Like maybe he missed his parents, or someone was in trouble, or he really missed his mom's eggnog, or-" she was cut off when Lily gave her a look. "Well I didn't say there were plenty of_ logical_ explanations."

Lily put her head into Gigi's lap and sighed as Gigi started stroking Lily's hair. "I just want to take it all back."

"Don't say that," Gigi said sternly. "You don't want to live life regretting this moment."

"It's too late," Lily mumbled. "I already regret it."

* * *

Lily walked into the Great Hall the next morning and glanced around for anyone to sit with. She narrowed her eyes and glared at Sirius as she walked by him and went to the other side of the table, sitting down by herself. 

Remus saw this happening and turned to Sirius. "Tell me this, do you and _Kacie _still get along?"

Sirius shook his head to get his anger for Lily out of his head. "Hmm?"

"What's up with you and Lily?"

"Basically I see in her what James has seen in her all these years," Sirius said in disgust.

"You're in love with her too?" Remus teased. Sirius gave him a stern look and gobbled down some eggs. Remus sighed. "What are you two fighting about?"

Sirius opened his mouth to tell the story and then realized that Remus didn't know that James and Lily had sex. "Oh, well…you know," Sirius said with a shrug, looking down intensely at his bacon.

"No actually, I _don't _know," Remus said.

"Oh you don't?" Sirius asked. "That's too bad." Sirius didn't say anything further as he looked down and starting eating some bacon.

"Why don't you enlighten us?" Peter cut in.

"Remember how Lily and I never really used to get along in the past six years?" Sirius asked. Remus and Peter nodded. "It has nothing to do with that." Sirius took another bite of his bacon, and got up from the table.

Remus turned to Peter. "Was that supposed to be helpful?"

Peter shrugged. "I don't understand why Padfoot wouldn't tell us unless…" Peter trailed off.

"Unless he would be telling someone else's secret," Remus finished. "Perhaps _Lily's _secret."

"Yeah, but-"

"Gigi!" Remus called out, stopping Gigi before she walked down to sit beside Lily.

"Yeah?" Gigi asked, picking up Sirius's unfinished piece of bacon and stuffing it in her mouth.

"Hear any good secrets lately?" Remus asked with a smirk.

"I just heard that Eloise Smidgen cheated on Frankie," Gigi said with a shrug.

"She did?" Peter exclaimed."But they were so cute together!"

Remus glared at him and then looked back at Gigi. "How about something juicier…possibly something to do with Lily."

Gigi stopped mid-bite and slowly turned to Remus. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Remus grinned, knowing full well that he was right on track. "Yes you do."

"How did you…what did you…when did you…" Gigi couldn't even get a full sentence out.

"Sirius said that he-" Peter started.

"Black," Gigi said, narrowing her eyebrows at the mention of Sirius's name. "I'll be right back." Gigi threw the piece of bacon down, and practically ran out of the room.

"Sirius Black!" Gigi screamed as she saw Sirius walking up the stairs.

"I love it when a girl screams out my name," Sirius said smugly, walking back down the stairs. "Yes dear?"

"What the hell is _wrong _with you?" Gigi asked.

"Hmm, that's not usually what comes next," Sirius said."Do you want the list?"

"I _know _you and Lily aren't speaking and you're mad at each other but that gives you no right to blab her secret!" Gigi hissed.

"Blab _what _secret?" Sirius asked.

"About her and James," Gigi mumbled, looking around to make sure no one was listening.

"I didn't blab that secret," Sirius said.

"Well tell me, if you didn't blab the secret, how does Remus know?" Gigi demanded to know.

Sirius thought about it and then gave a slight smile. "He knows what everyone else knows and probably came to his own conclusions."

"Which is?" Gigi asked, obviously getting impatient.

"Oh c'mon Giliba," Sirius said. "They left the party together, they had the Head quarters all to themselves, and they had both been drinking. I'm sure by now, half the school is making up rumors about what happened with James and Lily."

"I _told _you not to pressure them to be friends!" Gigi exclaimed. "Now Lily is regretting what happened, James is running away from her, and it's all your damn fault!"

"What the hell is _wrong _with you people?" Sirius exclaimed. "Those two are practically the same person, they should be able to get along! I just wanted them to be able to share a friendly conversation. In no way did I _push _them to have sex together!"

"Yes you did!" Gigi insisted. "You might as well have been the one giving them the condoms!"

"You think I _like _this!" Sirius cried out. "I want my best friend to come back to Hogwarts! I want Lily to stop being angry at me for something I didn't _do! _Hell, why I'm at it, I want you and I to be able to get along!"

"Why?" Gigi demanded to know. "So you can have sex with me and run away just like your cowardly best friend did? Oh wait…been there done that. But instead of running away from Hogwarts, you chose to run into the arms of another girl." Gigi turned on her heels and stomped out.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

_Review to find out if James comes back anytime soon! And what about Lily and Sirius...will they ever make up? Review to find out!_


	11. Moron, Girls & Quidditch, and Miss Me?

**_Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 11_**

_Disclaimer: you've seen me do this 10 times... I hope you've gotten the hang of it by now. If not, go to a previous chapter._

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Sirius rushed into his dormitory an hour later. "It amazes me how smart you are Remus."

Remus looked up. "Um…thanks?"

"You didn't know any details but yet you figured out that James and Lily had sex," Sirius said, sitting on his bed.

Peter fell off his bed and Remus dropped his books on top of his foot. "_What?_"

Sirius froze. "It amazes me how dumb I am."

"They had _sex_?" Remus hissed.

"No…where'd you hear that?" Sirius asked innocently, lying down on his bed.

"Sirius!" Remus exclaimed, rubbing his foot.

Sirius sighed. "You can't tell anyone."

"Sirius, we don't go spreading gossip throughout the school…that's _your _job," Peter noted.

Sirius chose to ignore that comment. "I don't know any details but when I walked into the Head Commons Room, Lily was standing there wrapped in her sheets, calling out James's name, and when I first went into James's room it was clear that he hadn't slept there last night."

"That doesn't necessarily mean they had sex," Remus said.

"True, but my next clue was when she told me she slept with James," Sirius said.

"Oh…well that'll do it," Remus said.

"I don't know how they ended up having sex though," Sirius said.

"Isn't it obvious?" Remus asked. "Those two have so much pent up sexual frustration, they were bound to sleep together soon."

"Well now she's upset because she thinks James left because of her," Sirius said.

Remus and Peter exchanged looks. "Did he?"

Sirius shot up from his bed. "Of course not!"

Remus and Peter looked at each other once again. "Are you sure?"

"Look, I know James has been a coward previously, running away when any form of relationshipstarts formingwith Lily, but he wouldn't run away because they had sex."

"I guess you're right," Peter said. "That's something _you _would do."

"It's something I _did _do," Sirius muttered, not thinking about what he was saying.

Remus and Peter stared at him. "What?"

Sirius looked at them. "What?"

"Who did you run away from after having sex?" Peter dared to ask.

Sirius froze. "Did I say that?" Remus and Peter nodded. "Oh, what do I know? I was just rambling."

Remus looked intently at Sirius. "Gigi."

Sirius looked over at Remus. "No, I'm Sirius."

"When did you have sex with Gigi?"

"Giliba and I never had sex," Sirius said. "I wouldn't want to touch her with a ten foot pole."

"When did you guys have sex?" Remus repeated.

"Never," Sirius insisted.

"Sirius," Remus warned.

Sirius sighed. "Last year," Sirius mumbled.

"Sirius!" Remus accused. "How could you have sex with a _friend?_"

"Hey! Don't yell at me, I just ran into the arms of someone else. At least I didn't leave _Hogwarts!_"

"You said yourself James didn't leave because of Lily," Peter said.

"And you _listened_ to me?" Sirius asked.

"You had sex with another girl after having sex with Gigi?" Remus asked. Sirius bowed his head and nodded shamefully. Remus threw his books at Sirius ("Ow!"). "You are such a _moron_."

"Strangely enough, that pretty much sums up what Giliba said," Sirius said.

"Well she had every right to call you that," Remus said.

"Actually I think she used more descriptive words like asshole and player," Sirius said with a shrug.

"And you're okay with that?" Peter asked.

"No, of course not," Sirius muttered. "But what can I do? I was a jerk and hurt her feelings and now we hate each other."

"You mean she hates you and you want to be friends with her again," Remus corrected.

"No," Sirius said. "She has said her share of hurtful things this past year, most of which are uncalled for. Therefore she hates me because of what I did, and I hate her because she thinks going around yelling at me and calling me names is appropriate."

Remus decided not to push the subject any further. "So, when is Prongs coming back?"

"He's not sure," Sirius said. Sirius sat up on his bed, sitting on the edge. "I do find it odd that all of a sudden James leaves with no real mention of it, no details, just a letter that says I'm gone, not sure when I'm coming back."

"And it is a little weird that he leaves the morning after having sex with Lily," Remus mentioned.

"Do you think it's possible to go to Dumbledore and get to James's house?" Sirius asked. "So we can find out what's going on with him."

"You can only leave if it's an emergency," Remus noted. "And what's our emergency going to be? We need to talk to our best friend because he could possibly be hiding away from the girl he is so obviously in love with and who he just had sex with?"

Sirius pondered the idea. "It could happen…"

"Dumbledore would look at us like we had four heads or something," Peter said.

"This is just so frustrating," Sirius muttered, falling back into his bed.

Remus got up from his bed and took out a piece of parchment. "How about we think about something else, and discuss how awesome Christmas is going to be tomorrow."

"I hate Giliba," Sirius explained.

"James isn't here," Peter pointed out.

"Lily and I aren't speaking," Sirius revealed.

Remus put his head in his hands. "You two are impossible to deal with."

"Usually James is the one to keep the group together," Sirius teased.

"Well I could act like James," Remus said. "All I have to do is play with my hair every second of every day, think about girls every second of every day, and show off every second of every day."

"You forgot 'dream about playing Quidditch every second of every day,'" Sirius noted.

It grew quiet and Sirius sighed. "It's quiet around here without James."

"It's called peace," Remus joked.

There was a knock at the door and all three boys turned to look at the door. "Come in!" Remus exclaimed.

Kacie poked her head in. "Have you guys seen Lily or Gigi? I can't find them anywhere."

The three boys exchanged looks. "No idea where they could be," Peter answered quickly.

Kacie gave them skeptical looks and shut the door behind her. "What's going on?"

"We're talking about Quidditch," Remus said quickly.

"And girls," Peter said.

"Girls playing Quidditch," Sirius finished.

Kacie rolled her eyes. "Do I look stupid?"

All three boys looked at her. "Well actually-" Sirius started.

"Don't finish that sentence," Kacie warned. She sat down on Remus's bed. "Where are they?"

"Who? The girls playing Quidditch?" Sirius asked innocently. Kacie glared at him. "I have no idea where Lily or Giliba is."

Kacie turned to Peter and Remus who were avoiding eye contact and then looked back at Sirius. "I know something's going on because there's gossip to be spread and amazingly, you're keeping your mouth shut."

"I resent that," Sirius said.

"It's true," Remus pointed out.

"I said I resent that, not 'I deny that,'" Sirius said.

* * *

"There you guys are," Kacie said, plopping herself down against a tree besides Lily and Gigi. 

"Hi," the mumbled.

"What's wrong?" Kacie asked, picking up a handful of snow and making a snowball out of it.

"Nothing," they muttered.

Kacie rolled her eyes. "I just ran into the guys and-"

Gigi and Lily jerked up. "What did they say to you?" Lily asked cautiously.

"Nothing really," Kacie said, obviously suspicious of Lily and Gigi's sudden movement.

Gigi and Lily exchanged looks and Kacie sighed. "C'mon guys, what's going on?"

Gigi and Lily turned back to Kacie. Gigi sighed. "You go first."

Lily looked down at her frozen fingers, took a deep breath and dove into the story. "I slept with James."

Kacie's mouth dropped wide open. "You _what?_"

"I drank a little too much, he brought me back to the room, we talked and before I knew it…we had sex," Lily said, burying her head in her hands. "And now he regrets it so much, he had to _leave _Hogwarts."

"Are you sure he left because of you?" Kacie asked.

"He hates me, he kisses me, he ditches me, now he has sex with me, and then the very next morning he disappears?" Lily asked. "You put two and two together." Neither Kacie nor Gigi said anything, only because what she was saying made perfect sense.

Kacie shook her head in shock and then turned to Gigi. "And what's wrong with you?"

"I feel bad for Lily," Gigi lied.

"Gi!" Lily accused.

Gigi sighed. "I hate Black."

Kacie rolled her eyes. "I had _no _idea you hated him! Alert the media!" she cried out sarcastically.

Gigi shrugged her shoulders at Kacie's comment. "You asked what was wrong with me. _He's _what's wrong."

"Tell her _why _you hate him so much," Lily urged.

Kacie turned to Gigi just as Gigi glared at Lily. Gigi sighed and turned back to Kacie. "I did the stupidest thing I've ever done in my entire life,"Gigi took a deep breath. "and I slept with Black."

For the second time in five minutes, Kacie's jaw dropped. "What is _with _you two?"

"That's not all," Gigi said. "He slept with another girl not even twenty four hours after having sex with me."

Kacie's eyes narrowed. "What a jerk!"

"Exactly," Gigi muttered.

"Why haven't you told us this before?" Kacie asked. "We're always urging you to stop hating Sirius and to become friends with him. If I had known why you hated him so much, I _never _would have attempted to make you and Sirius get along."

"I was mortified," Gigi said simply. "I was embarrassed and humiliated and until now I thought I was the only stupid one to be used by a Marauder. But when Lily told me her story, I felt I _had _to tell her what happened between me and Black."

"Makes sense," Kacie said with a nod.

It was quiet for a few seconds until Lily spoke up, "This is turning out to be the worst Christmas ever."

"Screw the Marauders," Kacie said. "Well not _literally_ because apparently that gets you into trouble and-"

"_Anyway_," Lily said with a hint of a smile.

"We'll have the best Christmas ever just the three of us. Who needs the Marauders?" Kacie asked, putting her arms around her two best friends. "Christmas is in two days and I _better _see smiles on your faces before then."

Lily and Gigi gave forced half smiles and Kacie laughed at their lame attempt. "It's a good thing you have two days to work on it."

* * *

"Hey Kace," Sirius said, coming up to her the next afternoon. "Tomorrow we were thinking about having Christmas in Lily and James's common room. That way we-" 

"No," Kacie said firmly.

Sirius stopped and turned to Remus and Peter for an explanation. "No?"

Remus and Peter shrugged at Sirius, obviously confused.

Kacie shook her head. "We're doing Christmas our own way."

"Who's we?" Remus asked.

"Lily, Gigi, and I," Kacie said.

"Why? Because Lily and I aren't talking? Or because somehow Gigi convinced you that I'm a horrible person?" Sirius asked with a sigh.

"She didn't have to do much convincing," Kacie muttered.

"You're not gonna spend the holidays with us because of a little something Giliba said?" Sirius cried out angrily.

"_A little something?_" Kacie exclaimed with a mean laugh. "She didn't have to tell me how horrible you were. All she had to say was that you slept with another girl twelve hours after sleeping with her and I formed my own conclusions."

Sirius just stood there, not sure as to what to say. He just looked at Kacie and asked calmly, "She told you?"

Kacie nodded and started to walk away. She turned to head and said, "Oh, and I wouldn't say you were horrible." Sirius looked up at her. "Horrible is too nice of a word to describe you right now." And she turned on her heels and sauntered off.

Sirius lowered his head in shame. "I didn't think she would ever find out."

"Gigi?" Remus asked. Sirius nodded. "Why'd you do it?"

Sirius sighed. "Because it's what I always do. I run when things get complicated. I'm afraid to grow too attached."

"But then how come you feel so bad about it this time?" Remus asked.

It took awhile for Sirius to come up with an answer. "Because unlike the others, I actually cared for Giliba."

* * *

Christmas passed, and although no one liked to admit it, it was definitely one of the worst Christmas's. Everyone was mad at someone and no one could fully enjoy the holidays. But now Christmas and New Years has passed (quite uneventful, unless you would say Sirius, Remus, and Peter getting drunk in Hogsmeade and bringing in the New Year by throwing up is eventful. Or perhaps you would say that Lily, Gigi, and Kacie hanging out in Lily's room having a mini sleepover is eventful). The girls were still staying away from the guys and the guys were praying that James come back soon. But a week passed…then another week, and still no sign of James. 

"He's coming back, right?" Sirius whispered as they were leaving DADA.

Remus shrugged. He was tired of insisting that James would be back, because now he wasn't so sure himself.

"Is he returning your letters?" Peter asked Sirius.

Sirius shook his head. "It's like he completely disappeared. He's already missed a week of classes."

The three boys exchanged glances and Remus dared to ask, "Do you think he's actually coming back?"

It was quiet for a few seconds and then Sirius hit Remus over the head with his book. "Ow!"

"Don't think like that," Sirius urged. "James _is _coming back."

"I hope not," a voice said from behind them. The three boys turned around to see Gigi, Lily, and Kacie standing there.

"No one's talking to you Lily," Sirius said.

"Like that's ever stopped _you _from speaking up," Lily said haughtily.

"At least when I speak up, it makes _sense_," Sirius said. "You want James here and you know it."

"Hell no I don't," Lily exclaimed. "In fact, I hope he fell off his broom or something and can't come back."

"Then who would you have sex with?" Sirius scorned. People in the hallways turned their heads at that comment and Lily narrowed her eyebrows.

"I hope you have fun in hell," Lily sneered and then stormed off.

When the girls were out of sight, Remus turned to Sirius. "I think that comment was a little uncalled for."

Sirius shrugged. "If she's gonna be a bitch to me, she's gotta learn that I'm going to retaliate."

"Tell me again exactly why you're mad at her," Remus said.

"She does something stupid and then looks to blame someone else," Sirius said. "She thinks she's Miss Perfect and nothing is her fault and she should just face the facts and take full responsibility for what she did."

"Do you really think it was her fault they had sex?" Remus asked.

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked.

"Well, perhaps it was James's fault…" Remus said slowly.

Sirius's jaw dropped. "You have _got _to be kidding me. You think _James _is to blame?"

"I don't know what to think," Remus said, entering the Gryffindor commons room. "But she was drunk and you and I both know it's not like Lily to have sex with just anyone and-"

"They were both perfectly aware of what was happening," Sirius insisted stubbornly. "No way did James make her have sex with him."

Remus shrugged. "I'm just trying to figure out what went on between them."

"Prongs may seem like a player and the kind of guy to just use a girl, but we all know that he was in love with Lily and would never intentionally hurt her," Sirius asserted.

Remus plopped down on a couch and shrugged. "I really wish we knew why he wasn't here."

"He loves Hogwarts," Peter said. "Only a really good reason would keep him away from this place."

"A really good reason with red hair and green eyes," Remus muttered.

Sirius watched Kacie walk down the stairs from the girls dorms and head towards the exit of the commons room. "I'll be right back," Sirius said, and got up to follow Kacie.

"Kacie, wait up!" Sirius called out after he climbed out of the portrait hole.

Kacie turned around and growled. "I'm busy."

"Just hear me out," Sirius urged. Kacie stopped, but didn't say anything. "You have every right to hate me but can you at least just let me explain?"

Kacie sighed. "Look Si, I have known all these years that you're a jerk when it comes to girls. But I love you as a friend and a person, so I tried ignoring it. But when you hurt my best friend, I can't help it if I don't feel like being friends with you."

"Giliba is different," Sirius blurted out.

"Huh?"

"Giliba and I were good friends," Sirius said. "My number one rule was to never do anything with my friends because then things get awkward. Well, obviously I broke that rule and have regretted it ever since."

Kacie gave Sirius a suspicious look and then gasped. "You _like _her."

"Ex_cuse _me?"

"You actually _like _her," Kacie claimed. "You actually _care _for the girl!"

"Okay, I never said any of that," Sirius said.

"You don't have to," Kacie said. "She's gonna love this."

"_What?_" Sirius cried out. "You're gonna _tell _her?"

"How awesome would it be when I tell her that her sworn enemy has fallen for her," Kacie cried out.

"No," Sirius said firmly. "You've got it all wrong. I just miss being friends with her. When Giliba and I had sex, I cared for her. That's why I got scared and ran away from it. But now, to put it simply, I hate her."

Kacie smiled. "Yeah right."

"You don't have to believe me," Sirius said with a shrug. "I just wanted to explain myself so you and I could go back to being friends. As much as I love Remus and Peter, I need to talk to a girl every once in awhile. Obviously Lily and Giliba aren't in any mood to talk to me, so I thought you would be my best shot."

"Although I don't like what you did to Gigi, I probably shouldn't be so angry about it," Kacie said. "I mean, Gigi isn't known for her perfect reputation."

Sirius gave Kacie a hug. "So, we're cool?"

Kacie nodded. "Now, if you excuse me, I have something important to do."

"What's that?"

"Remove the darts from the picture of you we have on our wall," Kacie teased. Sirius laughed and went back to the Gryffindor commons room.

* * *

"It's snowing," Sirius pouted a few days later. "We should be out building a snowman or throwing snowballs at each other. Not in here writing a Potions essay." 

"Or taking notes for my Transfiguration class," Remus noted.

"Or reading my Arithmacy book," Peter said.

Remus glanced over at Lily, Kacie, and Gigi who were doing homework as well. "I guess it's a heavy work day for all seventh years."

Sirius turned his gaze towards the girls also and scowled. "It would be more fun to throw snowballs at them."

Peter laughed and glanced around the commons room. "I envy the fourth years. They're playing exploding snaps."

"And there's a couple of second years playing chess," Remus pointed out. "Remember how easy it was when we were that age?"

"Yeah, how come things got so complicated?" Sirius sulked.

"I don't know but-" Remus started but then stopped and stared with his mouth wide open.

"But what?" Sirius asked, turning his gaze to see what Remus was looking at. "Oh my god. _James?_"

"Hey guys…miss me?" James asked, walking over to them.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

_oops...another cliffhanger!_

_How will Lily react? Will we ever find out why James really left? Will Sirius and Lily ever make up? _

_only one way to find out...REVIEW!_


	12. Roadkill, I'm Sorry Card, & Red and Gold

**_Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 12_**

_i am sooooooo sorry it's taken me awhile to put up another chapter. i've just been so busy and haven't had much time. But here it is, a week after the last chapter was posted (which in reality, isn't that long...) _

_Disclaimer: I'm not JK Rowling blah blah I didn't write Harry Potter etc etc. you get the jist._

_This is where we left off:  
_"Hey guys…miss me?" James asked, walking over to the Mauraders.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"Uh oh," Kacie muttered under her breath.

"What?" Gigi asked, looking up from her Divinations essay.

Lily noticed James walking over to the guys and she spilled her ink all over her DADA book. Kacie and Gigi both turned to see Lily's reaction. Lily just stared at him, every part of her body frozen.

"Lily?" Gigi whispered after several seconds.

Lily shook her head to get her out of her trance and started gathering her stuff, "What the hell is _he _doing back?" Lily hissed.

"Where are you going?" Gigi asked.

"Far away from him," Lily mumbled, getting up and stomping off.

James turned to see Lily storming out. "What's wrong with her?"

Sirius, Remus, and Peter exchanged looks. "Girl problems?" Sirius squeaked.

James gave him a strange look, just seconds away from following Lily. "Okay..."

"Dude, where the hell have you been these past few weeks?" Remus asked.

James tensed up. "Family stuff." The other three looked at him to elaborate.

"Um…care to explain?" Peter asked.

"No," James said. "So, what's been going on around here?"

"Don't ask," Remus muttered.

James turned to look at the other two. "Why not?"

"It's been argument after argument around here," Sirius noted.

"It's mostly Padfoot's fault," Remus contested.

"Is not!"

"Oh really? Why is Lily mad? Why does Gigi hate you? Why was Kacie angry with you?" Remus asked.

"Why is Lily mad? Why does Gigi hate you? And Kacie was angry with you?" James asked, glancing over at the portrait hole and still wondering if he should go after Lily.

Sirius glanced over at Remus and Peter and then back to James. "We kind of know what happened between you and Lily."

James grew stiff. "Oh…she told you?"

"Sort of," Sirius said.

"Oh," was all James could think of to say.

Sirius glanced at Remus and Peter and then back up at James. "Is that the reason you left?"

James stared blankly at his friends. "You think I left Hogwarts because of _Lily_?"

It was silent for a little bit. "That's what _she _thinks," Remus finally said.

"If she isn't the reason you left, why don't you tell us the _real _reason?" Peter suggested.

"I gotta go find Lily," James said quickly and then darted out of the commons room.

Sirius turned to Remus. "Would it be wrong to follow him?"

"Yes," Remus determined.

"And it would be wrong to listen to the conversation between him and Lily?"

"Yes," Remus repeated.

"But that's not gonna stop you?" Sirius asked.

"Nope," Remus said, quickly getting up and scurrying after James, Sirius and Peter closely behind. Kacie and Gigi looked up, gathered their stuff, and quickly ran after the boys.

* * *

James scurried out of the portrait hole, ran down the stairs, and jogged to his commons room. 

He entered the room and there sat Lily, glaring back at him. "You just had to come back huh?" Lily sneered.

James gulped, already worried about how this was going to go. "You don't know all the facts. So don't say something you'll regret," James said slowly.

"I wish you were never born!" Lily cried out.

"Something like that," James muttered. James took a deep breath and started talking, "I didn't leave because of you. I had a family emergency to attend to."

"And you just happened to leave the morning after we...well you know," Lily scorned.

"Had sex?"

Lily glared at him.

"Just making sure we're talking about the same thing," James said.

"Family thing huh? Nice excuse Potter," Lily spat out.

James cringed at the sound of his last name. "Lily, that night wasn't a one night stand kind of thing. At least, I don't want it to be. I'm telling you, I did _not _leave Hogwarts because of you. You have to believe me."

"Oh yeah, because you're such an honest person," Lily snapped. "Tell me Potter, why _did _you leave?"

James looked down at his feet. "I already told you, it was a family thing."

"If you're gonna lie, you could at least come up with a better excuse," Lily said.

"It's not an excuse," James insisted.

"If it's not an excuse then why don't you just tell me why the hell you were gone for three weeks," Lily exclaimed.

"Because it's none of your business!" James cried out.

"Oh this is good," Lily laughed out loud. "You're yelling at me when I'm just trying to figure out what the hell happened to you. And clearly it wasn't that you were eaten alive by monsters...unforunately."

James looked down at his feet. "I would tell you if I could," he said, swallowing the lump in his throat.

Lily shook her head in anger. "Fine, but do me a favor and stay away from me these next few months."

"Lily-" James pleaded.

"Seriously Potter," Lily said, getting up from the couch. "Did you _really _think that everything would be okay between us after you completely use me? I thought you were smarter than that."

"Is that _all _you think of me as?" James cried out, starting to get frustrated. "Do you honestly think that I'm out to use every girl at Hogwarts? I may have a reputation as a date 'em and drop 'em kind of guy, but it's different with you. I actually _care _for you an-"

"Does a guy who _cares _for me kiss me and then go out with another girl the next day? Does he pull pranks on me and talk about me behind me back? Does he have sex with me and then leaves the very next morning? I really think you need to look up 'care' in the dictionary."

"You have your own opinion about me and you won't even _listen _to me!" James exclaimed.

"There's no _need _to listen to you!" Lily burst out. "I've given you about a hundred chances and you screw up every time!"

"Lily, I've been an idiot in the past but-"

"You're still an idiot…and a player and an asshole, and none of that will ever change," Lily said heartlessly.

James was desperate to get Lily to hear him out. "Lily, you _have _to believe me."

"Why?" Lily cried out. "Why should I believe the one guy I will never trust again?"

James threw his hands up in frustration. "You have had the same opinion about me since day one and no matter _what _I do, you won't change your mind about me! So don't give me this bullshit about how you've given me a hundred chances because that is _sooo _untrue."

Lily stood up, shaking with anger. "I can_not _believe you are blaming this whole thing on _me_. In every situation between us, you have been the asshole so don't you _dare _yell at me Potter!"

"Oh but it's okay if you're yelling at _me?_" James shouted.

"How about we don't yell at all?" Lily screamed. "How about we just don't fucking talk to each other ever again!"

"That's the best thing you've said all day!" James cried out.

"Just stay the hell away from me and this will be the best seventh year ever!" Lily burst out, storming off to her room.

"There's no way in hell I'd go near you anyway!" James shouted, stomping into his bedroom.

From outside the entrance, the five others exchanged glances. "This can't be good," Sirius muttered after several seconds of silence.

* * *

"I still don't understand how levitating a feather could be harder than levitating a bowling ball," Gigi complained a few nights ago. The girls were sprawled out in Lily's common room doing homework. 

"It's depends on your mindset," Lily said with a shrug.

"You're not helping," Gigi said. "If there's a test question asking why levitating a bowling ball is actually quite easy, I don't think the professor will accept 'it depends on the mindset' as an answer."

"If you write it down, he'll have to accept it," Lily insisted and then paused. "But good luck passing with that answer."

Gigi groaned and closed her book. She turned to Kacie. "Is it time for food yet?"

Kacie looked up at Gigi with a blank stare. "Why are you asking _me _that?"

"Because Lily isn't coming up with good answers today."

"Oh," Kacie said and then shrugged. "Well, I'm not very hungry."

Gigi glared at her. "Your answers aren't very good either."

The girls laughed and Gigi went to throwing her quill in the air and catching it. Lily lay down on the couch with her DADA book and Kacie went to doodling on her parchment.

Gigi looked nervously at Lily and then opened her mouth, "How are you and James doing?"

Lily didn't even say anything, she just glared at Gigi. Gigi shrugged, "I guess that was a stupid question."

"I don't wanna talk about it," Lily muttered.

"You can't honestly tell me that you think he left Hogwarts because of you," Kacie said, rolling up her parchment and sitting up in the chair.

Lily groaned at her persistence. "I don't know what to think," Lily said. "But he won't tell anybody why he left. Don't you think that's a bit odd?"

"It is strange but there could be many different reasons for that," Gigi said with a shrug. "His parents _are _aurors. It could have had something to do with that and you know that auror stuff is top secret."

"Fine, but he didn't have to come back and start yelling at me," Lily said. "I had every right to be upset but he wasn't helping at all. He didn't explain why he was gone, he didn't even act like he cared about what happened between the two of us, and he blamed me for why we can't get along. I'll be damned if I even ever _look _in his direction again."

"I can't take this," Kacie whined turning to Gigi and Lily. "Gi, you hate Sirius. And Lils, you hate James. We should be able to get along with the guys."

"To be fair, Lily hates Sirius too," Gigi said.

Kacie glared at her.

"When one of them has sex with you and then ignores you the next day, perhaps you'll understand why we're mad," Gigi said stubbornly.

"I'm not stupid enough to get into that kind of situation with any of them," Kacie murmured.

"Clearly you got the brains out of us three," Lily teased.

"Yeah, but she-" Gigi started but James walked in at that time.

Gigi and Kacie looked from Lily to James and both said nervously, "Hi."

James just nodded in their direction and went into his room. Lily looked down at her book and acted like she was concentrating hard on the words.

"Lily," Gigi said calmly but Lily didn't respond.

"Lily," Kacie repeated but Lily still acted like she was into her book.

"Lily, we know you're not reading," Gigi said.

Lily looked up. "Why do you say that?"

"Because the book is upside down," Gigi responded.

Lily looked down and then looked at her friends sheepishly. "I can read upside down."

Gigi and Kace gave her a look. Lily sighed and turned the book the right way.

"So that's how it's gonna be from now on, huh?" Kacie asked. "Awkward silences, avoiding eye contact, ignoring each other?"

"The easiest way to sum it up is to say that Potter and I will not be acknowledging each other at all for the next five months," Lily said.

"Don't worry Kace," Gigi said. "Sirius and I will be acknowledging each other." Gigi paused. "We'll just acknowledge each other by yelling mean things."

"Oh that's comforting," Kacie said, rolling her eyes.

* * *

"Can we _please _stop talking about it?" James insisted as the four boys were walking to Transfiguration. 

"It just doesn't make sense," Sirius said.

"It's nothing for you to worry about," James said while rolling his eyes.

"I just don't understand," Sirius said.

James groaned. "Who _cares _why the Gryffindor colors are red and gold?"

"_I _care!" Sirius exclaimed. "Red is the _one _color I cannot wear. It looks _horrible _on me."

"You _do_ realize that we've been talking about this for a good five minutes right?" Remus asked.

"Yeah, there are _so _many other things we could be talking about that I wouldn't mind wasting my breath on," James noted.

"Like what's going on with you and Lily?" Sirius asked.

James stopped for a second. "So…red looks bad on you huh?"

The boys laughed and kept walking. There was awkward silence until Remus decided to bring up the forbidden subject, "So how are you and Lily?"

"That depends," James said, as he starting walking a little faster.

"On what?"

"On how well roadkill is," James said, walking even faster.

The other three rushed to catch up with James. "So you think this is it?" Peter asked.

"What do you mean?" James asked, sighing as he realized he couldn't get away from his friends.

"Do you think you guys will ever talk again?" Remus asked.

"Does roadkill talk?" James asked.

Remus ignored James's comment. "You two have overcome every argument you've been through. You'll get through this too…right?"

James paused to think about it. "I don't think so." And then he kept on walking.

It was quiet for a few seconds. "But you love her, right?" Sirius asked.

James turned his head to stare at Sirius in awe and ended up walking face first into a pole. While rubbing his head, he turned to Sirius. "Ex_cuse _me?"

"Don't you?" Sirius asked.

"Of _course _not!" James spat out.

"But you like her, right?" Sirius asked.

"Is it possible to like a stubborn stuck-up bitch?" James asked smugly.

"Oh come on," Remus urged. "It's you and Lily. You two always argue, then make up and become friends, and then argue again."

"This wasn't just any argument," James pointed out. "She absolutely hates my guts. She thinks I slept with her and then fled so I didn't have to see her again. And when I tried to explain it to her, she wouldn't change her mind about me. She's had the same opinion about me since day one and no matter what I do, she won't listen to me. Why would anyone in their right mind want a friend like that?"

It was silent as the boys thought about it. "Because it's Lily," Remus finally answered.

James sighed and walked into the Transfiguration room. The other three exchanged looks and then followed him. "You know what would solve all of this?" Sirius asked, sitting himself down beside James.

James sighed and banged his head against the table, obviously wishing the conversation was over. "What?" he groaned.

"Tell us where the hell you went these past three weeks."

James picked his head up. "That's it, this conversation is over. Evans and I will _not _be friends again and we're done talking about it."

The four of them looked around and decided not to push it. James sighed with relief but Remus spoke up, "Okay, but there's still one more important question."

James tried hard not to groan. "What?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"Why _are _Gryffindor colors red and gold?"

* * *

"Remind me again why we're hanging out outside when it's freezing cold?" Kacie asked, leaning up against a tree. 

"Because it's our tree," Remus said with a shrug.

"Our tree?" Peter asked. "Since when?"

Remus paused. "Since ten minutes ago."

Sirius rolled his eyes at the joke and starting forming a snowball in his hands. When it was ready, he threw it at Kacie. "Hey!" she cried out, wiping off her robes.

"I feel like there's so much to do considering there's only a few months left of our seventh year but yet, we're sitting out here just lounging around," Sirius noted.

"There's not that much to do," Kacie noted. "We just have to pass our classes, do well on the NEWTs, decide what we want to do when we leave Hogwarts, and graduate." She paused. "Somehow that seemed like a lot less in my head."

"Don't forget to add getting James and Lily talking again to that list," Remus noted.

"What the hell is with those two?" Peter asked with a sigh.

It was quiet for a moment. "I don't blame Lily for hating James," Kacie said after awhile.

"Why?" the three boys asked.

"Because he's an asshole," she stated simply.

"Well that explains it," Sirius said, rolling his eyes.

"This is Lily we're talking about," Kacie said. "The commitment type, the girl who doesn't like to date casually, the innocent girl. And then James comes along, they have sex, and then he disappears. I'm surprised she hasn't bitten his head off."

"Well I think that's physically impossible," Remus mentioned.

"With the way Lily's feeling, she could do a _lot _worse to him," Kacie said and then she turned to Sirius. "But enough about Lils and James. What about you and Gigi?"

"What a_bout _Giliba and I? We've hated each other for a year…what else is there to say?"

"I think it's pretty hypocritical of you to say that James and Lily should talk again but yet you have no intention of ever making up with Gi," Kacie said, crossing her arms across her chest.

"That's _her_ problem," Sirius explained, leaning back against the tree.

"Oh really?" Kacie asked nastily. "It's her problem that you slept with another girl not twenty-four hours after being with her?"

Sirius opened his mouth to protest but decided not to protest. "I'm glad you see it my way."

Kacie just rolled her eyes but didn't say anything. Remus looked from Kacie to Sirius and then sighed. "Do you remember back to first year when we all liked each other and got along?"

"Lily thought James was a stuck-up, egotistical asshole," Peter noted.

"And I thought Lily was way too perfect," Sirius added.

"And I thought you were too quiet, Sirius was too loud, James was too obnoxious, and Peter let you guys walk all over him," Kacie pointed out.

Remus paused. "So remember back to when we were three years old and we were forced to get along with whoever was put in front of us?"

"Unless they took my teddy bear," Sirius said. Everyone stared at him. "It happened once!"

"And did they hit you over the head with it?" Remus asked. "Because that would explain a lot…"

Sirius got up from the ground. "Well, I gotta go now."

"Where ya going?"

"I've got a date," Sirius called over his shoulder.

Remus shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Since when does that boy _not _have a date?"

"Question…" Kacie said. "What exactly is a 'date' to Si?"

"Making out in a broom closest," Remus answered.

"Sex," Peter responded.

Kacie paused. "I kind of wish I didn't ask."

* * *

James couldn't concentrate on his work. No matter how hard he tried, his eyes weren't following the words in the book. He just stared into space, trying hard not to glance over at the picture of his family on his nightstand. 

Instead, he forced himself to look at the picture of the Marauders in their fifth year. It was freezing outside, and for some reason Sirius thought it would be a good idea to see who could last the longest outside in just boxers. It was nearly midnight and they had all been out there for almost three hours. Little did they know, Gigi saw them outside and decided that a picture of them turning blue was a perfect photo opportunity.

"Hey buddy," Sirius said, walking into the room.

James shook his head to get out of his trance and looked up at the door. "What are you doing here?"

"Apparently when a girl tells you she'll meet you at 5, she means 6," Sirius said with a shrug.

James rolled his eyes and laughed. "You'd think that after the hundreds of girls you've been with, you would have learned that little fact."

"Maybe I'll get it right the next time," Sirius said, sitting down on James's bed. "So, why are you doing work?" Sirius glanced down at the empty piece of parchment. "Or _not _doing work I should say."

James grinned. "I'm a little behind since I missed a week of classes."

"Well I can help you," Sirius offered.

"I want to do _well_ Padfoot," James noted.

"You didn't let me finish my sentence," Sirius said. "I can help you…by getting Remus to help you."

James laughed. "Thanks. But Remus isn't in this class with me."

"Well, who is?"

"A few Slytherins, some Ravenclaw Quidditch players, Lily," James said with a shrug.

Sirius thought about it. "So which Slytherin should we get to help you?"

James laughed again. "It's okay, I'll be fine."

"So…how's that Lily thing going?" Sirius asked.

"The whole not talking to her, not ever going to talk to her thing?"

"Yeah, _that _thing."

"It's going pretty well," James assured.

"Well, we-" Sirius started but heard stomping footsteps out in the Head Commons Room. "Speaking of witches," Sirius muttered.

"We weren't speaking of witches," James said.

"Did I say witches?" Sirius asked. "I mean bitches."

James rolled his eyes and walked down to the commons room. "Looks like she's not alone."

Sirius groaned. "Giliba?"

"Oh yeah," James said.

"Double Trouble," Sirius mumbled. He turned to James and whispered, "Did you know that the whole school is talking about you and Evans."

"How so?"

"Apparently people are placing bets on what happened between you two over Christmas break, whether you two will ever get together or my personal favorite, how long it will be until you guys talk again."

James groaned. "Don't people in this school have anything better to do than to meddle into my personal life?"

"Seriously, people _really _need to put their time and attention into something else," Sirius said. "Oh, but if you and Lily could start talking by next month that would be _great_."

James looked at him. "You're betting on me?"

"Technically its a bet on you and _Lily_."

"How much did you bet on us?"

Sirius gasped. "I was just kidding!" Sirius looked at him with a hurt face. "I am _shocked _at you. How can you _think _that I would bet on the life of my best friend?"

"How much?"

"Only ten galleons," Sirius said with a shrug and then turned his attention to the girls.

"Classes are _killing _me Gi," Lily groaned, plopping down on the couch.

"And I bet your lack of a social life isn't helping much either, huh?" Gigi said.

Lily sat up and stared at her. "Why? Why? What did I do to you?"

Gigi shrugged. "I'm just trying to help."

"And making me feel miserable is helping how…?"

Gigi shrugged. "I'm trying to make myself feel better. I feel that if I compare my life to yours, I should be happier."

"And how's that working out for ya?"

Gigi leaned back on the couch. "I'm sitting here talking about classes with you. How do you _think _it's working out for me?"

Lily laughed and threw her books onto the table. "Well, here's something that should cheer you up."

"What's that?"

"At least you don't have a Head meeting with the guy you hate most in the world."

"Hmm…that does cheer me up a little," Gigi said.

"How I'm going to talk to the prefects when all I really want to do is throw Potter out a window is beyond me," Lily said.

"And how you're going to-" Gigi started until she saw James and Sirius appear from the stairs. "And my day just keeps getting worse," she muttered.

"Don't mind us," Sirius said.

"If you kept walking, we wouldn't have to," Lily mumbled.

"Isn't there some professor you have to kiss up to?" Sirius snapped.

"Isn't there some poor Slytherin you have to torture?" Lily sneered.

"Isn't there some extra credit work you have to do?"

"Isn't there some girl you have to rape?" Lily cried out.

Sirius looked at the clock. "Actually…yes." And with that, he was gone.

"Remind me to buy that girl an 'I'm sorry' card," Lily murmured to Gigi. She looked up and saw James standing there. "Is there a reason you're still here?"

"It's my Commons Room too," James burst out.

"How bout you enjoy it at another time?" Lily snapped.

"You really thought I was going to stay? Why I'd want to stay in the same room with you is beyond me," James sneered.

"Then get the hell out," Lily burst out.

James gave her a malicious look and sauntered off. Lily crouched down in her seat. "I can't keep doing this Gi."

"Do what exactly?"

"Every time I see him I want to kill him but I hate that we're not talking and that we can't get along," Lily explained.

"So basically you hate it when you're around him but you also hate it when you're not around him," Gigi said.

Lily stared off into the distance and didn't say anything, but she didn't have to. Both Gigi and Lily knew that Gigi was right.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

_okay, i **swear**_ _that you will find out the real reason James left in the next chapter. but you have to review if you want me to post it sooner rather than later!_


	13. Small Debate, Free Cake, Spoon and Swan

**_Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 13_**

_i am soooooo sorry that this is a week after i posted the last one! I had two tests on thursday and then I visited my friend at college...even though it was snowing really hard...and i ended up driving my car into the side of the mountain after hitting a patch of ice. i'm fine, the car is fine... but its been a hectic weekend. so i hope you can forgive me for not updating sooner._

_Disclaimer: is there any point to even putting this here anymore? you know i'm not JK Rowling and you know what belongs to her and what belongs to me_

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Lily walked into the room where the prefect meeting was to be held but jumped at what she saw. "Oh…hi."

James glanced up but didn't say anything and went back to what he was doing.

"You're here early," Lily noted.

"Strange huh?" James mumbled sarcastically.

"Very," Lily muttered back. James and Lily didn't talk for a few seconds while they were gathering their stuff.

"So…why exactly _are _you here early?" Lily wondered.

"What do you mean?"

"You're never early," Lily said. "In fact, you're usually here _after _the prefects."

"That's not true," James snapped. "I'm always in the room at least a few seconds before them."

"Yeah, if you push them out of the way to get into the door first," Lily snickered.

"What's your problem?" James asked, turning to face her. "Either I'm not here early and you yell at me, or I'm here before _you _and you yell at me."

"I'm not yelling at you!" Lily cried out.

James gave her a look.

"That doesn't count," Lily argued. She looked at him and shrugged. "It's just surprising to see you here this early."

"What does it matter the time I get here?" James sneered. "As long as I'm here before the others, does it _really _matter if I'm here thirty minutes before or thirty seconds before them?"

"It's setting a bad example when you're not here early," Lily said.

"God Evans, we've had this fight before!" James exclaimed, throwing his hands up in frustration. 'How the hell can they tell when I'm here? All they see is me here when they arrive. Do you want me to camp out here at night? Maybe I should come to the meetings three days early. Is that enough time for you?"

"Okay, now you're just being stupid," Lily muttered.

"You're the one yelling at me about what _time _I get here!" James exclaimed.

"If I recall, _you _started yelling first!" Lily sneered, facing James.

"Are you guys fighting…_again_?" a prefect asked as he walked into the room.

"No!" Lily shouted as James yelled, "Yes!"

James turned to Lily. "Yes we are."

"We are _not _fighting," Lily insisted.

"Yes we _are_."

"It's just a small debate," Lily noted.

"Fight."

"Small debate."

"_Fight!_"

"This could possibly be the stupidest argument ever…" the prefect said. "You're fighting over whether you're fighting or not. Does anyone _else _see a problem with that?"

"And these are the people in charge…" another prefect muttered.

"Sit down," both James and Lily said in unison.

* * *

"Well that was…" James trailed off trying to find a good word. "…productive." 

"You threw a book at me!" Lily exclaimed, gathering her stuff together.

"Because you wouldn't shut up!" James cried out.

"I'm su_pposed _to talk. It's how you run a meeting," Lily retorted.

"Yeah I know…but I can't remember the last time you let _me _talk and run the meeting!"

"Because you'd ruin it!"

"How so?" James demanded to know.

"You'd offer them all free cake or trips to Hogsmeade every weekend or something stupid like that," Lily pointed out.

"I would not!" James said and then paused. "Can we _get _free cake?"

Lily clenched her fists. "You are impossible," she said through gritted teeth.

"What?" James asked, surprised by the hatred in her voice.

"You make it impossible for anyone to be nice to you, for anyone to actually _like _you. You're an egotistical prat who could be perfectly happy living life as if girls are just objects or toys," Lily burst out. "And I'm tired of it. I'm tired if _this_."

"So why don't you just _leave _Hogwarts?" James spat out.

"Because I'm not gonna run away from it…that's what _you _do," Lily said and then sauntered off.

* * *

"Does anyone else see a problem with us sitting around doing nothing?" Remus asked a few days later. 

Sirius looked up from his bed. "We're not doing nothing…we're talking about girls and drinking butterbeer."

"Which by the way isn't allowed in here," Remus noted.

"Obviously that hasn't stopped us," James said who was lying on his stomach on the floor.

"I'm waiting for the day you guys get caught," Peter said from his desk chair.

"You're drinking it too," Sirius noted.

Peter looked down guiltily at his mug. "Oh yeah."

"So you never answered the question Moony," James said, averting his attention back to Remus.

"That's because it was a very inappropriate question."

"Asking when the last time you were with a girl is _not _an inappropriate question," Sirius argued.

"But you didn't ask me that…you asked me when the last time I got laid was," Remus said.

Sirius paused. "I'm not seeing the difference."

Remus rolled his eyes and went back to throwing hisquill up in the air and catching it.

"Frankly, I don't see the reason why you haven't had a girl for awhile," Sirius said.

"I'll name three of them," Remus said. "I howl at the moon, I'm hairy, and I would bite their heads off once a month."

"So?" James asked. "Sirius does all that stuff too."

Sirius threw a pillow at James but was laughing. Sirius said, "But you're clearly the nice one. You're sweet and innocent and don't use girls. I'm surprised every girl doesn't swoon at the sight of you."

"Swoon?" Peter asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes, _swoon_. It kind of sounds like spoon and swan mixed," Sirius explained.

"Yes Si, we know what it sounds like. But what we didn't know was that you _use _the word swoon," James noted.

"I don't use it very often…just when it's needed. Like the word irk and humble," Sirius said with a shrug.

"And homework," James snickered.

Remus shook his head back and forth and turned to Sirius. "It amazes me how you get up in the morning without falling over."

"Speaking of swan, how's Lori Byrd?" Peter asked.

Sirius looked blankly at him. "Are you calling Lori a swan?"

Peter rolled his eyes. "Her last name is Byrd, which sounds like bird, and a swan is a type of bird."

Sirius gave him another blank stare. "I don't get it."

"Oh sure, he can come with that swoon sounds like a cross between swan and spoon, but he can't figure out that a swan is a type of bird," James said, rolling his eyes.

"Well Lori and I aren't together anymore," Sirius said with a shrug.

"Why not?" James asked.

"It started off with those most horrifying four words," Sirius said with a shutter.

"Watch out, a monster?" James asked.

"No…we need to talk. But watch out, a monster runs a close second," Sirius said with a laugh.

"So why aren't you together anymore?" Peter asked.

Sirius shrugged. "For some reason, she doesn't think I'm smart enough. She thinks I won't go anywhere with my life after Hogwarts. But look at me…you _know _I'm gonna marry well."

"And often," James snickered.

"So what girl have you moved on to?" Peter wondered.

Sirius gave him a surprised look. "I am _shocked_ at that question. Lori and I _just _broke up and you think I have another girl already?"

Peter, Remus, and James exchanged looks. "Yes."

"Well I haven't even _looked _at another girl since—oooh, looking good Amber!" Sirius called out.

"Uh Sirius?" James said. "That's a chair."

Sirius looked over and pouted. "It's been a whole 14 hours since I've been with a girl and I'm already delirious!"

"Oh how hard it must be to be you," Remus said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I'm glad _someone _understands me," Sirius said to Remus.

Remus shook his head in disbelief and turned to James. "So how's _your _love life?"

"Oh you know," James said with a shrug. "…not as bad as Sirius's."

"I don't think it can get much worse than being without a girl for 14 straight hours," Sirius noted.

"I don't know…having the girl you're totally in love with hate you because you had sex with her and then left her stranded without any explanation seems pretty bad to me," Remus said.

James glared at him. "Did I _hurt _you in someway?"

"Huh?" Remus asked.

"Well obviously I did something to hurt you that made you bring that up…_again_," James said.

"We just like pointing it out," Remus said with a grin.

"My love life seems perfect compared to it," Peter noted.

"Sure makes 14 hours seem like nothing," Sirius said.

"Look, how many times do I have to tell you," James said, sitting straight up. "I'm not in love with Lily, I didn't leave her stranded, and it's really not that big of a deal."

It grew quiet for a second.

"Oh, you so love her," Sirius said.

"You _definitely _left her stranded," Remus added.

"And it's a _huge _deal," Peter finished.

James just stared at them. "No matter what I say, you won't believe me huh?"

"Not at all," was the unanimous answer.

James sighed and took a huge swig of butterbeer. "There's more to life than girls. And there's _definitely _more to life then Lily."

Sirius gasped and threw a pillow at James. "How _dare _you say there's more to life than girls! If that was true, I'd have _nothing_."

"Sirius…you _still _have nothing," Remus pointed out.

"Except a great sex life," Sirius said with a wink.

Remus groaned and made a retching noise.

"So how's Gigi these days?" James teased.

"Oh come on," Sirius groaned. "We don't have to talk about Evans but can we _not _bring up Giliba."

"So you had sex with her and then went and had sex with someone else…could you _be _any more of an idiot?" James asked.

Sirius's mouth dropped wide open. "Who told you?"

James looked up at Remus and Peter. "Who do you _think _told me?"

"No one in this damn group can keep a secret," Sirius muttered.

"And you're the biggest blabbermouth of all," Remus noted.

"Am not!" Sirius cried out.

"Sirius…if someone has a story, they come to you. Then they'll know it will be all over the school in 2.5 seconds," Peter said.

"Not true!" Sirius argued. "…but what story have you heard?"

All three of his friends rolled their eyes. "Nothing big…just the gossip about you and Giliba."

Sirius jerked up from the bed. "There's gossip going around?"

"No…amazingly enough, you were able to keep that secret," James said. "But dude, seriously, what were you _thinking_?"

"I don't want to talk about Giliba," Sirius mumbled.

"Why did you have sex with another girl right after her? I mean, she wasn't just some girl. She was one of your good friends…"

"Probably the same reason you ran away after having sex with Lily," Sirius said harshly.

"I didn't leave because of her!" James exclaimed for the hundredth time.

"Oh right, because you _never _run when you're scared," Sirius said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "I mean, after you discovered you liked Lily, you went and got with another girl. When you and Lily kissed, you made out with Nancie the next day. So you leaving the school I'm sure had _nothing _do with Lily."

"I am _tired _of telling you guys this: I did _not _leave because of Lily!" James shouted. "I wanted more than anything to just lay by her side, but I couldn't. Okay? So can we drop this damn subject!" James got up and stormed out of the room.

* * *

Gigi slumped down into the couch in Lily and James's common room. "I'm bored. It's a Friday night and all we're doing is sitting here." 

"Oh what, is this your _first _Friday without a date Gi?" Kacie teased, rolling her eyes.

Gigi thought about it for a few seconds. "Pretty much, yeah."

Kacie stopped smiling and turned to her. "Are you kidding?"

"Well, were _you_?" Gigi asked.

"Yes…but not really," Kacie said, looking up at her from the floor.

"Yes but no?" Gigi said.

Lily shook her head in confusion. "Alright, I am thoroughly confused."

"I second that," Kacie said.

The three girls laughed and put the conversation past them. "So Kace, when's the last time you had a date?"

"The last time a guy even _liked _me, he was paid to ditch me," Kacie muttered.

"Yeah, but technically he _didn't _like you. He just liked the idea of getting you into bed,"Gigi noted.

Kacie sighed and leaned back on the side of the couch. "Since when did guys only care about sex?"

"Since the Marauders got to them," Gigi mumbled. "I'm sure they started a club and are telling all the guys at Hogwarts that sex is the only important thing in life."

"You're in that club, aren't you Gi?" Lily teased.

Gigi threw a pillow at Lily and laughed. "Nah, there's a girl club too…but I'm the only one in it."

Lily laughed as Kacie said, "There should be a club of all the girls who have slept with a Marauder."

"That would be the whole school…except you Kacie," Gigi teased.

"I'll start my own club," Kacie said. "The _smart _girl at Hogwarts."

"Well I agree with you on that one…" Lily murmured.

"How is it that those boys are all the same?" Kacie asked. "I mean, who would have thought that _both _Sirius and James would have sex with you two and _both _of them would ditch you the very next day."

Lily and Gigi took a slight second to think of it and then both of them threw a pillow hard at Kacie. "And who knew that _both _of you would be so angry," Kacie teased.

"Can we _ever _have a conversation that doesn't involve the Marauders?" Lily groaned.

Gigi sighed. "Either we see them everywhere, or they end up in our conversations. It's like they're the only people who exist."

"Let's forget about them," Lily said. "And let's talk about how hot Tyler Brewer is."

"I think _something _happened to him over winter break because he got ten times hotter," Gigi noted.

"He's also Ravenclaw Quidditch captain and he trains like twenty hours a day," Kacie said. "I don't think his body could _get _any better."

Lily burst out laughing just then. Gigi and Kacie turned to her. "What?"

"We are the epitomé of a girl. Sitting here on a Friday night talking about boys and braiding each other hair."

"Uh…we're not braiding each other's hair," Gigi noted.

"Give it five minutes," Lily said with a laugh.

* * *

"Mr. Black," a voice called out. Sirius turned around to see Dumbledore talking to him. 

"Hi Professor Dumbledore," Sirius said, slowing down so Dumbledore could reach him.

"I haven't had a chance to talk to you about everything. I have already discussed everything with Mr. Potter, but haven't had a chance to confront you," Dumbledore said. "And I just wanted to make sure that you are okay."

"Oh yeah, I'm perfectly okay. Wonderful in fact," Sirius said and then paused. "Okay about what?"

Dumbledore gave him a heartwarming smile. "About Mr. and Mrs. Potter."

Sirius gave him a blank stare. "What about them?"

Dumbledore smiled sadly. "I don't think denying it is a good way to go Mr. Black. I know that the Potters were like your parents too. I know how close you all were. The Potters death was tragic, and I hope you're okay. But I am mostly making sure that you are taking care of James."

Sirius stood there silent. No words came to his mouth. Finally he swallowed the lump in his throat. "The…the Potters death?" he squeaked out.

"How is Mr. Potter holding up?" Dumbledore asked.

"I don't know," Sirius whispered.

"Excuse me?"

Sirius cleared his throat. "I mean, he's fine. Took it pretty hard. He was gone for three weeks of the winter break because of it…" Sirius paused. "…right?"

"Of course," Dumbledore said. "That's why he left so urgently."

Sirius looked off into the empty hallway. "It all makes sense," he murmured.

"What was that?"

"Oh nothing…in fact, I'm about to go find James. Make sure he's okay and…yeah. So, thank you," Sirius said quickly.

Dumbledore gave him a wary look but then nodded. "Good day Mr. Black."

Sirius just gave him a wave to show he acknowledged his words, and then sped off into the direction of his room, knowing James was doing homework with Remus. But at the last moment, he switched directions and ran to the Head room.

* * *

"Lily?" Sirius called out, zooming into the common room. "LILY!" 

Lily sped into the common room from her room. "What? What is it? What do you—" Lily asked worriedly until she saw who it was. "What?" she asked, crossing her arms across her chest.

Sirius gasped for breath. "You…can't…hate…him."

"Who?" Lily asked, obviously not wanting to talk to Sirius.

Sirius took another few quick breaths. "James."

"I think you've interfered with my life enough Sirius," Lily said stubbornly. "Now if you excuse me, I was doing hom-"

"No," Sirius persisted.

"What?"

"It wasn't his fault."

"What wasn't?"

"He didn't have a choice."

"Who didn't?"

"He _had _to leave," Sirius claimed.

"Why?"

"Look Lily-"

"Is it possible for you to form sentences with more than four words in them?" Lily asked, obviously annoyed.

"Yes it is definitely possible," Sirius said. "See? That was a _five _word sentence."

"Get out," Lily said.

"Lily, you can't ha-"

"I know, I know. I can't hate him," Lily said, rolling her eyes. "You said that. And if you're gonna run all the way here and give me this bullshit about how I can't hate him, why don't you tell me why the hell not or do us both a favor and get out."

"How did you feel when your parents died?" Sirius asked.

Lily looked at him in shock. "Ex_cuse _me?"

"How did you feel-" Sirius started to repeat.

"That is _totally _none of you business!" Lily cried out. "What the hell is going _on _with you Sirius? I am _really _not in the mood to make small talk with you so can you either leave me the hell alone or tell me what's going on."

"James's parents died over winter break," Sirius said.

Lily stood there, her mouth wide open.

"Hello? Lily?" Sirius asked.

Lily shook out of it. "Um…what?" Lily asked.

"I don't know why he just left suddenly and didn't tell anyone and I don't know why he hasn't told anyone since he's been back but-"

"I do," Lily muttered.

"Huh?"

"I know why," Lily said.

"What?"

Lily sighed and sat down on the arm of the couch. "I didn't tell anyone my parents died until three months after it happened."

"But why?"

"It was too shocking, it was too upsetting, I never wanted to talk about it," Lily said with a shrug. "I was afraid that I was going to breakdown if I even attempted to mention it."

"Well that's why he left the day after you guys…you know," Sirius said. Lily rolled her eyes at the way Sirius put it. "He wasn't afraid nor does he hate you."

Lily looked down at her hands. "Okay."

Sirius looked at her, waiting for her to say more but Lily kept quiet. "Well…I'm going to go find him. I'll-"

"Don't tell him I know," Lily said quietly, not bothering to look up.

"Why not?"

"Just don't," Lily insisted.

Sirius shrugged. "Okay," and then he turned to leave.

"And Sirius?"

"Yeah?" Sirius asked, turning around to look her in the eyes.

"I'm sorry…for everything."

Sirius gave her a warm smile. "I know."

Lily returned the smile and then got up and went into her room.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

_will Lily tell James that she knows? Will Sirius tell James he knows? How will James reactif he finds out that his friends know about his parents? Will Remus, Kacie, Peter, and Gigi ever find out? review to find out!_


	14. We Must Have Stepped Into The Past

**_Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 14_**

_Disclaimer: you kno what goes here._

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Sirius walked into his room and found James there alone. "Where's Remus?"

"He went to find Peter," James said without looking up from his book.

Sirius looked around and shut the door behind him. "Why didn't you tell me?"

James looked up at Sirius with a blank stare. "Am I supposed to know what you're talking about?"

Sirius looked at James for a few seconds before opening his mouth, "You could have told me. They're like my parents too."

James just swallowed the lump in his throat but didn't say anything.

"You left for three weeks and couldn't so muchastell mewhy?" Sirius asked. "I mean, there must have been a funeral. You're entire family must have been at your house. I mean I know I'm not family but I thought I was close and-"

"It wasn't because I didn't think you were family Si," James said softly. "I didn't want you there. In fact, I didn't want any family there. I was shocked, I was upset, and it was best to do it on my own."

"But why?"

"I could hardly take it myself okay?" James exclaimed. "You've only ever seen me happy and carefree. I didn't want you to think it was a big deal."

"But dude, it _is _a big deal," Sirius said.

James sighed. "I know that now," James whispered.

Sirius gave a huge sigh. "So you would rather Lily hate you and never want to talk to you again then to tell her the truth?"

"She has had the same opinion about me since day one," James said. "Who's to say she'd believe me even if I did tell her?"

"Do you blame her?" Sirius asked.

"For what?"

"For having the same opinion about you since she met you. I mean, c'mon. Every time you guys looked like you were getting together, you were an asshole to her," Sirius said.

"Oh this is good," James said sarcastically. "Relationship advice from the king of one night stands."

"Hey, don't yell at me. I'm not the one who had sex with Lily and then fled the next day," Sirius said.

"Yeah but does _Gigi _ring a bell?" James exclaimed.

Sirius was quiet for a second. "Damn you." James and Sirius looked at each other and burst out laughing.

James sighed. "And we've already established that I left the next morning because of my parents…what's _your _excuse?"

Sirius sighed and sat down on his bed. "The same reason you kept running to Nancie after things would happen with Lily."

"Because Nancie was so hot?" James teased. Sirius laughed along with James. "So you fled because you were afraid of what you were feeling for Gigi."

"Bingo."

"And now how do you feel?"

"Like I want to throw her off a cliff and hide the body," Sirius said.

James laughed but then grew serious and looked over at his best friend. "I should have told you about my parents."

"I agree."

"I at least should have let you come with me."

"I agree."

"And I shouldn't have kept avoiding the subject of why I left."

"Dude, you're on a roll today."

James looked down at his hands. "And I guess not telling Lily was stupid."

"Who cares about Lily, you should have told _me_," Sirius said with a laugh. James laughed with him.

James shrugged. "Well, I guess there's no point in telling Lily now. She already hates me."

"I still don't understand why you never told her."

"Because I didn't want her to feel sorry for me. I didn't want her to think she had to be my friend or anything."

"Dude…you had _sex _with her. I think you were past the friends stage," Sirius said.

James rolled his eyes. "And like I said, she already hated me and thought I was a bad guy. If I had told her, would she honestly have believed me?"

"Yes," Sirius said. "No matter what her opinion of you, she loves you."

"Really? Because her 'I want you dead, I hate you' comments contradict that statement," James said.

"Eh…she's a girl. They never know _what _they're saying. As long as they're talking, they're happy," Sirius said.

James laughed but then sighed. "I still can't believe they're gone."

"Girls?" Sirius asked. "No, they're not gone. In fact, if we walk down to the commons room, I'm sure we'll see quite a few of them."

"Not girls, Padfoot," James said, rolling his eyes. "My parents."

Sirius bit his lip, trying to figure out if he should ask what he was thinking. "How'd it happen?"

James looked down at the floor. "Auror business. They were in hiding from You-Know-Who but apparently he found them and…well, you know how it ends."

"How's your family holding up?" Sirius asked. "How's Kellie…still hot?"

James rolled his eyes. "Still engaged." Sirius pouted as James laughed. "It was nice having her there," James said. "As much as I wanted to be along and get away from everything, I'm glad the whole family was there."

The boys were interrupted when the door swung open. "Hey guys," Remus said, entering the room with Peter. Sirius and James just looked up at their friends but didn't say anything.

"Whoa, what's wrong? Who died?" Peter asked at the sullen looks on James and Sirius's faces.

Sirius groaned and threw his head back against the pillow. "Smooth Wormtail."

James looked from Sirius to Remus and Peter and he sighed. "Come over here…I'll tell you."

* * *

In class the next morning Lily couldn't help but glance over at James every few minutes. She wanted to tell him how sorry she was. She wanted to tell him she understood how it felt when your parents died. She wanted to tell him she was sorry for how she acted the day he got back. But somehow nothing she could say seemed to make up for everything. 

"Lily!" Gigi hissed.

Lily shook her head to get her out of the trance. "Huh?"

"Class is over," Gigi said.

Lily looked around the room and sure enough everyone was leaving, except for Kacie and Gigi who were staring suspiciously at Lily. "Oh," was all she could think of to say. Lily gathered all her stuff in a hurry and left, Gigi and Kacie running to catch up with her.

"What's going on with you?" Gigi asked.

"What?" Lily asked.

"You didn't take notes all class," Gigi said.

Lily stopped abruptly. "We had class? I didn't take notes?"

Kacie and Gigi exchanged glances. "Okay, what's up Lily?"

"Did you take notes?" Lily asked the girls.

Kacie sighed and handed her notes to Lily who rushed off to the library. "What the hell was that about?"

Just then, there was loud laughter from the end of the hallway. Gigi and Kacie averted their attention to it where the four Marauders were watching a Slytherin spin in circles trying to catch his tail. Gigi narrowed her eyes. "James."

"James?"

"Oh come on," Gigi said. "Whatever Lily's going through right now _has _to do with James. Since when does she daydream and not pay attention an _entire _Transfiguration class?"

"There's one way to find out," Kacie said, dragging Gigi over to the Marauders. "Hey guys."

Sirius turned towards them and held his hands up. "We didn't have anything to do with it."

"With what?" Kacie asked.

"That Slytherin was born with a tail. Nothing he can do about it," Sirius lied.

Kacie rolled her eyes. "I don't care what you did to the Slytherin."

Sirius paused. "Oh yeah…you're not Lily."

"Thank god," James muttered.

"Speaking of Lily, what did you do to her?" Gigi blurted out.

"If by 'what did I do to her,' you mean ignore her and not talk to her, then I did nothing," James said.

"She didn't pay attention all class. She didn't take notes. And she had _no _idea when the class ended," Gigi said.

"Wow…there must be something _seriously _wrong with her," James said.

"Yeah you just described a normal class for _Sirius_," Remus said. "Not Lily."

"I resent that," Sirius said.

"Sirius, what class did we just have?" Remus asked.

"We had class?" Sirius asked.

"My point exactly," Remus murmured.

"Okay, I don't care about Black right now," Gigi said.

"Or ever," Peter muttered.

"Look, Lily's probably just sick or something," Sirius said. "She'll be back to the over-controlling, detention-giving, excessive note-taking self we all love in no time."

"Where is she now?" Remus asked.

"The library."

"See?" Sirius said. "She's already back to her note-taking self."

"What do you mean 'we all love,'" Gigi asked warily.

"Huh?"

"You said the over-controlling, detention-giving, excessive note-taking self we all love," Gigi said. "I thought you and Lily weren't speaking."

"Oh…well…you know," Sirius said with a shrug. "People fight and make up all the time."

"But it's been a month since you two have talked," Gigi said.

"Look Giliba, just because _you _don't forgive people and become friends with them again doesn't mean Lily doesn't," Sirius said.

James finally spoke up. "I'm kind of with Gigi on this one…when did you two suddenly become friends?"

Sirius turned to James and gasped. "You would take the side of a girl over your best friend?"

"If she's hot, yeah," James said.

Sirius pouted. "That's like half the population of Hogwarts."

"Get used to it buddy," James teased. "So anyway, you and Lily are talking?"

"Yes, we're friends and it shouldn't be this big of a deal," Sirius said.

Remus stopped. "Friends…or _more?_"

"Ew! Remus!" Gigi and James called out while Sirius rolled his eyes and Peter and Kacie snickered.

"Hey, I've never known you to just have friends who are girls. I'm just making sure," Remus said.

"Kacie and I are just friends," Sirius noted.

Kacie rubbed her hand over Sirius's arm. "That can change," she teased, winking at him.

Sirius's mouth dropped wide open. "Closest broom closet is just around the corner."

"You know where all the broom closets are?" Kacie asked.

Sirius shrugged. "You get to know where they are when you use them as often as I do."

"You are such a pig," Gigi muttered and sauntered off, with Kacie close behind.

Sirius turned to his friends. "In fact, the one around the corner was used by Giliba and I at one point."

Remus stared at him. "You _are _a pig."

* * *

James groaned as he remembered he had to spend two whole hours doing Head stuff with Lily. He took a deep breath and walked into his common room to see Lily sprawled out on the couch, her eyes closed. James gave a slight smile, but frowned when he realized he had to wake her up and she would be a grouch once again. 

"Lily," James whispered, shaking her gently.

Lily opened her eyes slightly and yawned. She slowly got up and looked around. "How long was I out?"

James shrugged. "I don't know, I just got here."

"Hmm," Lily said, still not totally awake. Lily turned to him. "What are you doing here?"

"You mean besides the obvious, this is my common room?" James asked. Lily didn't say anything. "We have to work on graduation plans."

Lily rubbed her eyes and looked at him. "Oh yeah." Lily took out some parchment and a quill and turned to James. "Okay, let's get started."

James just stared at her. "That's it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Now don't take this the wrong way or anything but…why are you being so nice?"

"You mean why am I not being a bitch and throwing things at you right now?"

"Exactly," James said. "Where's the mean comment on how I shouldn't have woken you up. Or how I should be sitting fifty feet away from you. Or how I'm here late."

"Well what about you?" Lily asked. "Where's the smartass comment on how I shouldn't be sleeping in the middle of the day. Or how I should be more prepared. Or how I shouldn't be taking up so much room on the couch."

"Sorry…I'll try harder next time," James teased. "I was taken aback by your ability to be civil."

"Well maybe if you weren't such an asshole all the time, you could see me being civil more often," Lily muttered.

"Aha! I _knew _you being nice couldn't last long," James said.

"Me being nice to you for a long period of time is like _you _being a gentleman," Lily pointed out.

"I can be a gentleman," James retorted. Lily snorted. "But it's im_possible _to please you! You want everything to be _your _way and _perfect _and guess what? _No _guy will be able to live up to your standards."

"So not calling me a bitch, not leaving me high and dry all the time, andnot being an asshole allthe time are high standards?" Lily cried out.

"That is _not _all you expect!" James cried out and then jumped up from the couch. "This is ridiculous. There is _no _way we are going to be able to plan a whole graduation without biting each other's heads off."

"Then why don't you _leave. _It'll be easier to plan it without you anyway!" Lily cried out.

"Asking me to leave is the best thing you've said all day," James exclaimed, stomping off.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Lily called out sincerely and then froze, _not _expecting to say that.

James turned around. "Excuse me?"

Lily looked up at him and shook her head. "Nothing."

James shrugged and started walking out.

Lily sighed and stood up from the couch. "You could have told me!" she called out.

"Confusing me isn't going to help me understand what you're talking about," James said tiredly.

Lily took a deep breath. "Why would you let me yell at you like that? Why would you let me be such a bitch to you? Why couldn't you just have told me?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I would have understood," Lily continued.

"Okay, this is getting tiring Lily. Either tell me what the fuck you're talking about or let me leave!"

"Your parents!" Lily shouted and then instantly regretted it.

James froze and didn't know what to say for several seconds. "Um…what?"

Lily sighed heavily and couldn't help but look hurt. "Why couldn't you just have told me?"

"Would it really have mattered?" James said in an exhausted voice. "Lily, you hated me the moment I walked through that door after winter break. No matter what I do, it's not good enough for you. You wouldn't have believed me, and I wasn't in the mood to talk about it anyway."

"But you let me hate you all this time," Lily said. "You never tried explaining, you just let me ignore you and avoid you and…and _hate _you."

"Well, that's what you do best," James said. "No matter what I do, you won't let your guard down. You won't listen, you won't try to understand, you just go on hating me."

"Well…do you blame me?" Lily asked calmly. "Come on Potter. No matter what you do, you always end up screwing things up."

James didn't say anything; mostly because he knew she was right. It grew quiet and finally James spoke up, "I'm sorry."

Lily gave a warm smile. "I should be the one who's sorry."

James paused. "Yeah…you're right. You apologize."

Lily laughed as James continued, "I should have told you about my parents…I'm guessing that if anyone understands, it's you. I just couldn't…it was hard…" James trailed off.

"I know," Lily said with a warmhearted smile.

James sighed and trudged over to the couch, plopping himself down on it. "I just can't believe they're gone."

"Join the club," Lily murmured, also having a seat on the couch.

James turned to her. "How'd you do it? How did you get over it?"

"Who says I ever got over it?" Lily questioned. James groaned, afraid that was going to be the answer.

Lily continued talking."Unforunately, you never really get over it. It's like a gray cloud that follows you everywhere."

"I hate gray," James muttered.

"Well it can be a red cloud instead…but it still follows you everywhere," Lily teased.

"I hate red," James mumbled.

Lily gave him a look.

"Right, right. That's not the point," James said witha slight smile. "It just doesn't seem fair."

"I know what you mean," Lily said. "But the good news is that eventually you'll learn to live with it…even if you won't totally get over it."

James nodded and looked up at Lily, not saying anything at all. Lily looked into his eyes and didn't say anything either. Eventually, James whispered, "I'm really sorry."

Lily nodded and whispered, "I know."

Before he could talk himself out of it, James leaned in and kissed Lily lightly. He broke apart and just looked into her eyes. She looked back at him, and before she could stop herself, she leaned in and kissed him.

James threw his arms around her neck, and she wrapped her arms around his back. He deepened the kiss and-

"Just making sure you two aren't killing each-" Sirius said, entering the room with Remus, Kacie, Gigi, and Peter.

James and Lily broke apart as fast as they could and just stared at their friendsin humiliation.

"Oh sorry," Gigi said. "We must have stepped into the past."

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_oops...was that aNOTHER cliffhanger? wow, how do you guys put up with me? haha, the more you review, the sooner i'll update!_


	15. Chocolate Metal, Billie, & Uncle Kilter

_**Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 15**_

_this is the 15th chapter...i think you've memorized the disclaimer by now._

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Lily buried her face in James's chest to hide from embarrassment. Remus turned to Sirius. "Looks like they're not killing each other…"

"Unless she's trying to gag him to death with her tongue," Sirius murmured.

"Get out," James said instantly.

"What?" Sirius asked innocently. "Was it something I said?"

"Get out," James repeated, rubbing Lily's back.

"Nah, they just don't want you here," Kacie said. "Mainly because they want to go back to making out."

"Get out," James said, pointing his finger at the exit.

Their friends exchanged glances, smiled evilly, and came over and sat down next to Lily and James. They just all stared at the two, waiting for an answer. Lily picked her head up, saw her friends' evil grins, and darted into her room.

James sighed. "Okay look, I know what you guys must be thinking."

"We need snacks," Sirius said.

James paused. "Okay, maybe I _don't _know what you guys are thinking."

"Ignore him," Remus said.

"I always do," James teased.

"So…shouldn't someone go after Lily?" Peter asked. Everyone turned to James.

"Oh, me?" James said, jumping up. "Wow…I am _so _not used to this relationship thing."

"So it's a relationship you two have?" Sirius asked.

James stopped walking and turned to his friend. "I don't know."

"Well are you officially dating?" Remus wondered.

"I don't know."

"Well do you two have feelings for each other?" Kacie jumped in.

"I don't know."

"What _do _you know?" Gigi asked.

James paused. "She's a good kisser."

"If you based your relationship off whether she can kiss or not you'd be…" Remus trailed off.

"You'd be Sirius," Gigi finished.

"Hey! I resent that!" Sirius said.

"It's true," Gigi noted.

"I know…you just forgot to mention that I base relationships off whether the girls are good in bed also," Sirius said with a grin.

"It's no wonder every girl at this damn school hates you," Gigi muttered.

"Gabrielle sure doesn't," Sirius said with a wink.

"Do me a favor," Gigi said. "Don't ever wink at me again…if you want to be in one piece."

"Okay, back to me!" James exclaimed.

Gigi and Sirius turned to James. "You haven't left yet?"

"Huh?"

"Weren't you going to go find Lily?" Gigi asked.

"Oh yeah...wow, I really stink at this," James said, walking towards Lily's room.

"Go figure out if this is a relationship or not!" Remus cried out. James turned the corner and Remus turned to his friends. "He's screwed."

* * *

"Let me try and get this straight," Sirius said. "So you have a so-called 'relationship?'" Sirius made the quotation marks with his fingers.

"There's no need to use quotation marks Padfoot," James said. "It's a relationship."

"So you stay with _one _girl all the time? No Nancie? Selma? Or Gabrielle? Or Penny? Or any other hot babe? Just one girl?"

"Just Lily."

Sirius paused. "I don't get it," Sirius said.

James hit his head against the side of the couch once again. "Forget it."

"I just don't understand," Sirius said with a shrug.

"Ya know…you can have it too."

"I don't want it," Sirius insisted.

"It's great," James said. "Having someone always there, being able to connect. Don't you see how unsatisfying it is to go from girl to girl and have no bond? Just bimbos and sluts and…" James trailed off as he saw Selma and Gabrielle walk by.

Sirius glanced over at them too. "Oh yeah, _real _unsatisfying. Now…if you excuse me, I'm going over there."

"You're just going to _leave _me here?" James asked.

Sirius shrugged. "All I know is that _I'm _going to get laid tonight…twice."

James watched Sirius walk away and muttered to himself, "Stupid committed relationship."

"Where's Sirius going?" Remus asked, walking into the common room as Sirius was running to catch up to the girls.

"He's Sirius, where do you _think _he's going?" James asked.

"Damn," Remus muttered. "Can I stay in your common room tonight?"

James laughed and agreed. He turned to Remus. "Do you think I can do it?"

"Do what?"

"Stay true to one girl."

"If you really care about her," Remus said.

"I've just never really tried before," James said, "I mean, the closest I got to a committed relationship was Nancie…and even then, we agreed to see other people whenever we wanted."

"Explain to me the committed part," Remus said.

"I just don't want to let Lily down," James said.

"Yeah…you've already done that plenty of times," Remus said. James glared at him. "I'm out of your common room tonight aren't I?"

"Looks like you're sleeping outside m'friend," James teased.

* * *

"So you guys had 'the talk?'" Gigi asked.

Lily looked up from her book and smiled. "I don't know why people dread 'the talk' so much. It was quite nice for us."

"That's because for you guys, 'the talk' consisted mostly of making out," Kacie said.

Lily laughed and shrugged. "That's true…but we both came to an agreement that we're dating, so not much talk was needed."

"I still don't get it," Gigi said. "Why tie yourself down to one guy when there are a million guys out there? I mean, why kiss only one guy? Why have sex with only one guy?"

"Because when you care about someone, no one else matters," Lily said.

"Ooooh," Gigi said. "I've never had that feeling." Kacie and Lily exchanged looks, but didn't say anything. Gigi noticed and commented, "What was that look for? Why are you looking at each other? Why'd you look up? Why can't I stop using the word look?"

Kacie and Lily exchanged another look and Kacie spoke up, "I just think you _have _had that feeling before…you're just choosing to ignore it."

"Huh?"

"What she means is…" Lily trailed off. "Who wants cake?"

"You can_not _change the subject by bringing up cake," Gigi said sternly. "…what type of cake?"

"Chocolate?" Lily suggested.

"Oooh, yum!" Gigi said. "Wait, no, you can't change the subject. What are you guys talking about?"

"Gi, you use guys all the time. They use you," Lily said. "Right?" Gigi agreed. "But there was _one_ guy who used you…you got angry. And still hate him to this day."

It dawned on Gigi and she burst out laughing. "You think I actually _liked _Black?" Lily and Kacie just shrugged. "How could someone _like _an arrogant player like that?"

"Okay, so maybe he has some ego problems," Lily said. Gigi raised her eyebrows. "Okay, maybe he has a _lot _of ego problems. But besides that, he and you are exactly alike."

"_How?_"Gigi demanded to know.

"You use people for sex, you're not the commitment type," Lily started.

"You're very outgoing and like lots of attention," Kacie added.

"Okay fine, we may be similar. But that doesn't mean I like him. Haven't you heard the phrase, opposites attract?" Gigi asked.

"Yeah, and not _one _of the guys you've been with has been the opposite of you," Kacie said. "I think you and your opposite would kill each other."

Gigi thought about it. "Okay fine. In this case, opposites disattract."

"Disattract?" Lily asked, raising her eyebrows.

Gigi shrugged. "I couldn't think of the word."

"Repel?" Lily suggested.

"Keep away?" Kacie pointed out.

"Repulse?"

"Alright, alright. Apparently I need a dictionary," Gigi said. "But anyway, I never have and never _will _like Black. End of story."

"Do you miss the friendship you two had?"

"Not really. Why would I miss a lying jerk who just stabs people in the back? Can we stop talking about it now? End of story."

"But you guys used to be really close friends. You don't miss him at all?"

"Evidently end of story means nothing to you people," Gigi muttered. She sighed and then looked at her friends. "I _guess_ I miss the days when he wasn't an asshole and we got along. I miss being close to a guy and being able to talk to him. But every day I see him and argue with him, I realize that us being friends was a big mistake."

"Okay, but-"

"END…OF…STORY…" Gigi said firmly and slowly.

Lily turned to Kacie. "I think she wants to talk about something else."

"Where'd you get a silly idea like that?" Kacie joked.

* * *

"Is anyone else concerned with the fact that I'm turning blue?" Sirius asked as he shivered.

"You're the idiot who decided that coming outside without some form of warm clothing would be fun," Remus noted.

"Can I share your jumper?" Sirius asked, his teeth chattering.

"No way," Remus retorted. "Isn't there some hot girl out here willing to share every piece of clothing she has with you?"

"No, everyone smart is inside," Sirius said.

"Then why the hell are _we _outside?" James demanded to know.

"Because _you _wanted to play with the snow," Remus pointed out.

"And because you threatened us," Peter added.

James thought back to it and laughed. "Oh yeah…you guys are idiots for listening to me."

"I learned that within the first five minutes of meeting you," Remus said. "When you said wouldn't it be cool if the Hogwarts train was made of chocolate."

"Hey, that _would _be cool!" James claimed.

"Chocolate and whipped cream!" Sirius cried out.

"Chocolate, whipped cream, and _cookies_," James added.

"Chocolate, whipped cream, cookies, and _brownies_," Sirius said

"Metal," Remus said, rolling his eyes. "The train is made of _metal_."

James and Sirius glanced at Remus and then looked back at each other. "_Chocolate _metal!"

"Oooh, what about lollipops also?" Sirius claimed.

"You guys talking about what you wish you were eating?" Kacie asked, hearing Sirius's statement.

"Nope, they're talking about what they wish the Hogwarts train was made out of," Remus said.

Kacie turned to Sirius. "Lollipops?"

"And chocolate, whipped cream, cookies, and brownies," James said. "Oh! And donuts!"

Kacie turned to Remus. "Don't you ever feel like your IQ is going down just by _sitting _with them?"

"All the time," Remus said, making a snowball out of the snow and throwing it at James.

"HEY!" James cried out.

"You're right…playing with the snow _is _fun," Remus teased.

James gave an evil grin and threw an entire lump of snow on Remus. Then he turned to Sirius and threw a snowball at him. Peter joined in and just grabbed as much snow as he could with his hands and dumped it on James.

Kacie sat back and smiled. "Boys are so immature."

"Hey Kace! Help us make a snowman!" Lily cried out from across the way.

Kacie turned around and laughed. "And apparently girls aren't any more mature," she said to herself and then got up and ran over to her friends.

"How come his nose is pointing up to the sky?" Kacie wondered.

"We're making it a Sirius snowman…that's the only way I could show that he's stuck up," Gigi said.

Kacie turned to Lily. "Is she kidding?"

Lily nodded and then rolled her eyes at Gigi. "We just aren't very good with this whole snowman thing."

"I can see that…you guys do realize that his arms shouldn't be coming out of his neck, right?"

"Whoa, that's one ugly snowman," James said, walking over to the girls and brushing snow off of him.

"It kind of resembles you," Lily teased, giving James a quickkiss on the lips.

"What exactly are the other guys doing?" Gigi asked, glancing over at them rolling around in the snow.

"I think they're wrestling in the snow…or Sirius is rolling around to get warmer," James said. "I'd go with the former."

"Why is Sirius wearing shorts?" Lily asked.

"That's like asking why Sirius doesn't do homework," James said with a shrug. "There's no answer…he's just Sirius."

"So, aren't you going to help us?" Gigi asked, packing more snow onto the snowman's stomach.

"I would, but I'm not sure what you're making," James said.

"Haven't you ever seen a snowman before?" Gigi asked.

"Yes…and it looks _nothing _like that," James said. Gigi pouted and threw some snow in James's direction.

Just then, the other three boys wandered over. "Whoa, that's a nice snow..." Sirius trailed off, trying to figure out what it was. "Snowthing."

"Snow_man! _Snowman! It's a snow_MAN!_" Gigi cried out.

Sirius paused. "So, what are you going to name your snowthing?"

Gigi threw her hands up in frustration. "I give up."

"I think that's probably a good idea," Lily said with a laugh. "Clearly we aren't artists."

"So, who's up for some hot chocolate?" Remus asked.

"Now _there's _something I can make," Gigi said, brushing her hands up on her robes and walking towards the entrance of Hogwarts. "Let's just forget about Billie."

Everyone stopped and stared at her. "Billie?" James dared to ask.

"That's what I named our snowman," Gigi said with a shrug and started walking ahead.

"I think we should just leave it alone," Sirius suggested.

"Billie?" James repeated.

"Ooookay, let's get you inside," Lily said, taking his hand in hers and pulling him forward.

"Is anyone else concerned about Gigi? I mean…she just named a goddamn snowman," James joked.

"Snowthing," Sirius corrected.

"Maybe the snowman will be her next boyfriend," Peter joked.

"Snowthing," Sirius repeated. "And I'll be right back," Sirius said, and then he ran back and jumped on the snowman and destroyed it. "Now he's dead."

No one spoke for a few seconds until Kacie spoke up, "Should we give it a funeral?"

"I don't think any of us should be allowed outside until it is sunny and we can wear shorts and t-shirts," James suggested.

"Sirius is wearing shorts," Lily noted.

"Let me correct myself…when its sunny, _warm_, and we can wear shorts without turning blue," James said.

"Good plan," Remus said, linking arms with Kacie and trudging off to get warm.

* * *

Sirius sauntered into the commons room and plopped down on the couch next to Remus.

"So I have a great joke for you," Sirius said. "What did the moron have for breakfast?"

"Well this morning you had toast, bacon, and eggs," Remus said, without looking up.

Sirius pouted. "You totally just ruined the joke."

"Sorry, I just thought that was the answer," Remus said with a grin.

Just then Gigi walked in and sat down across from the two guys.

Sirius turned to Gigi and Remus. "I hear that there's a rumor going around that I'm the hottest guy in all of Hogwarts," Sirius said with a grin.

"Really? Because I hear there's a rumor going around that you're not," Remus said bluntly.

"Yeah I've heard that same rumor," Gigi said to Remus.

"Oh really?" Sirius asked with a twinkle in his eye. "Because apparently the rumor _I _heard was started by you."

Gigi looked at Sirius and burst out laughing but when she noticed that Sirius wasn't laughing she looked at him. "Oh…you were serious?"

"I'm _always _Sir-"

"Do _not _finish that lame joke," Gigi pleaded. "Who told you that I said you were hot?"

"A very reliable source," Sirius said, still grinning. "Kellie Marx told me and she overheard Jannie Gilbert telling Penny and Penelope who heard it from Yatzi Hilton who was told by Isobel Tomas who heard it from Kylie, Ginger, and Andie who overheard you telling Kacie."

"Oh yeah, that's a _very _reliable source," Gigi said, rolling her eyes. "The day I say you're the hottest guy at Hogwarts is the die."

"Well then roll over in your grave, because Kacie confirmed it," Sirius said, crossing his arms over his chest proudly.

Gigi's jaw dropped, and she tried to find the words to say something. "Are you _kidding _me?"

Sirius just smirked and Remus couldn't help laughing. "Looks like you're in quite a pickle. You know what my Uncle Kilter would say at a time like this?"

"Why the hell did my parents name me Kilter?" Sirius asked.

Remus rolled his eyes. "No," he said and then turned to Gigi and pointed his finger at her. "He'd say…haha you're screwed."

Gigi threw a pillow at Remus. "Excuse me," Gigi said, getting up from the couch. "There's a certain person I have to kill."

As Gigi exited, Remus looked over at Sirius and burst out laughing. "You look like the happiest person in the world."

Sirius glanced over at Remus, still smirking, and shrugged. "Maybe not all hope is lost. Maybe she doesn't totally hate me."

Gigi came back into the room. "And by the way, I absolutely hate you and want you dead...so no matter what comment you overhear, that will never change."

Sirius's smirk was quickly turned to a frown. "And maybe I'm totally wrong." Sirius sighed, and jumped over the back of the couch, running after Gigi. "Giliba, wait up!"

Gigi groaned, but amazingly stopped and turned around. "What?"

"Obviously you said it for a reason," Sirius said. "Why?"

Gigi just looked at him and laughed in his face. "You think I'm going to stand here and boost your ego?"

"Oh come on, there's obviously a reason you said I was the hottest guy at Hogwarts and the best you've ever had," Sirius said.

Gigi's jaw dropped for the second time that afternoon and her eyes widened in amazement. "Kacie _told _you!"

"No, I added that last part myself," Sirius said. "But it's _true?_"

"I didn't say that," Gigi said quickly…a little _too _quickly.

Sirius tried hard to hide the grin on his face. "So it's true."

"No way," Gigi said and then got angry. "Look, I do _not _feel like standing here having a conversation with you right now. I have asked you hundreds of times to just leave me alone, so why don't you for once _listen _to me?"

"You tell me why you hate me so much but you've admitted that you miss being friends with me, you think-"

"Who said I missed being friends with you?" Gigi asked. Sirius just shrugged and Gigi knew that once again, Kacie had said something. "Ugh, I'm gonna _kill _her!"

"Forget about her, talk to me Giliba. Why the hell are you going around telling people that you miss me, I'm hot, and I'm the best you ever had but you tell me that you hate me and you don't want anything to do with me?"

"Why the hell do you care so much?" Gigi exclaimed. "Like you care that I miss our friendship. Like you care that I was in love with you and _that's _why it was the best. God Black, don't you think? Maybe it wasn't _just _about sex for me like everyone else! And as for saying you're hot, you're taking it out of context. Kacie said Remus was the hottest of the group and I said Remus was adorable and cute in an innocent kind of way while you are hott as in let me do every girl in this damn school kind of way. So you happy? Can you leave me alone now?" And Gigi turned on her heels and started to walk off.

"You loved me?" Sirius spoke up, running his hands through his hair anxiously. But Gigi didn't turn around and just kept walking.

* * *

"Gi?" Lily asked as Gigi came into her room, plopped down on the bed, and just started bawling.

Lily turned to Kacie who shrugged her shoulders and came over to the bed.

"Gi, what's wrong?" Lily asked.

"I don't hate him," she squeaked, so quiet that Lily and Kacie didn't even hear it.

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_Review!_


	16. Monkeys & Bananas, a Janitor, Not Hungry

**_Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 16_**

_Hey, sorry it's been awhile since I've updated (a week to be exact). I've been really busy (I have midterms this week...eek). _

_Anyway, to answer some of your questions... you'll just have to wait to see what happens with Sirius and Gigi, Kacie and Remus are just friends (and will probably stay that way throughout the entire story), sorry if I have so many cliffhangers--i feel that it pulls you in more...plus, i like being evil. haha just kidding. _

_Disclaimer: blah blah i'm not JK Rowling etc etc_

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"Somehow I don't believe that," Lily said.

"Oh its true," James said. "It's a proven fact that the more you kiss, the better you do in school."

"Proven by who?" Lily asked.

"_Whom_," James corrected. "See? You haven't had enough kissing…your grammar is lacking."

"Okay, proven by _whom_?"

"By us," James said with a grin. "It just hasn't happened yet."

Lily laughed and kissed James. "Why don't you go find _Sirius_ and prove this theory?"

"No way!" James cried out and then paused. "I already tried…he turned me down."

Lily laughed at James joke and snuggled close to him. "We're not getting much graduation planning done."

James shrugged and put his arm around Lily. "I don't mind."

Lily smiled. "Somehow I figured that."

Sirius walked in then and plopped down on the couch right next to Lily. "I'm bored."

"Well James wants you to kiss him…that will preoccupy you for awhile," Lily teased.

"Sorry James, I'm into girls," Sirius said with a shrug and then turned to Lily. "But if _you're _not doing anything Lily…"

"Sirius…you're hitting on me," Lily said tiredly.

"I'm shocked! I'm outraged!" Sirius exclaimed. "But most importantly…are you interested?"

"Stop hitting on my girlfriend, Si," James said, rolling his eyes. "I'm sure there are plenty of other girls out there who are willing to occupy their time with you."

Sirius shrugged. "I'm running out of girls. And you stole one of the only ones left."

"Sirius, even if I _wasn't _with James, I would never do anything with you," Lily said.

"You're just saying that because James is sitting right here," Sirius said.

"No, I can safely say that there was a reason you and I never got together. And I will never do anything with you _ever_," Lily said.

"Okay, I came here so I could be put in a better mood but you're just bumming me out," Sirius pouted. "I don't think this day could get any worse."

"Hey guys," Gigi said, walking into the room.

"I stand corrected," Sirius muttered.

"Having a threesome?" Gigi teased, not daring to look at Sirius.

"No, Lily just made it perfectly clear that she doesn't want anything to do with Sirius," James said.

"Well that makes two of us," Gigi mumbled.

"You already did me," Sirius said with a cheesy grin.

"Biggest mistake of my life," Gigi murmured.

"If you guys are gonna argue, can you do it somewhere else?" Lily asked.

Sirius turned to Gigi. "I don't think she wants us here."

"Oh really? Where'd you get an idea like that?" Gigi snapped.

"We have to work on graduation plans," Lily said. "So if you're gonna get into a big fight, do it somewhere else."

"Graduation plans huh?" Gigi asked.

"I didn't know making out was part of the planning process," Sirius teased. "Damn, now I know why you like being Head Boy so much, James."

"Get out," James said, pointing to the exit.

"You seem to say that a lot," Sirius said.

"Yeah, you'd think that you'd be used to it by now," Lily said. "But nope, you still don't leave. So if you could just let us do our work and not bother us for another hour or so, that'd be wonderful."

"Yeah, I wish you'd listen to us every once in awhile," James said.

"I listen!" Sirius protested.

"Oh yeah? Then, what did we just tell you to do?" Lily asked.

"Something about a monkey and a banana," Sirius said.

Lily, Gigi, and James just stared at him, not having a clue as to what to say.

Lily shook her head disapprovingly and turned to James. "He's your friend."

James turned to Sirius. "You're right. Lily just told you to go find a monkey and feed it a banana."

"I'm allergic to bananas," Sirius said. "If I touch one, I get really red, my throat closes up, and eventually I'll stop breathing."

"Then let's find that banana as soon as possible," Gigi said, pushing Sirius out the door.

"You don't mean that," Sirius said.

"You're right," Gigi said. "Let's just throw you off a cliff instead."

Sirius pouted. "I think you have a problem with me."

Gigi burst out laughing. "And where the hell did you get an idea like that?" she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"Oh you know," Sirius said with a shrug. "You've hinted at it a couple of times. People have mentioned it. Oh, and just yesterday you told me you hated my guts and wished I was never born."

"Damn…what gave it away?" Gigi joked, walking away from Sirius.

"Giliba, the other day you said-" Sirius said.

"What I said the other day isn't relevant," Gigi said. "I didn't mean it."

"Giliba, you said-"

"Forget it!" Gigi cried out. "Let's not talk about it, okay? In fact, let's not talk at all."

"Giliba, you and I haven't gotten along this past year…mostly because it's hard for me to get along with someone who hates me so much. And you _claim _it's because I just used you but wake up and smell the roses sweet cheeks. Every guy you've been with either you were using or he was using you and neither one of you cared. So why the hell can't you just get over it and stop being such a bitch about it?"

Gigi whirled around. "Do _not _call me sweet cheeks."

Sirius stood there dumbfounded. "That's _all _you have to say?"

"Don't call me a bitch either," Gigi growled.

"Anything _else _you'd like to say?"

"Yeah!" Gigi exclaimed, pushing Sirius against the wall. "The only reason I haven't had a boyfriend and I just use guys and they just use me is because of _you_. We were friends Black! I _know _you have a reputation but I didn't think you'd get together with another girl not even twenty-four _hours _after being with me! And that's when I realized that I didn't want to get fuckin' hurt every time I was with a guy! If I show no emotion and have no feelings, and just use guys, then I won't feel like _crap _like I did after I was with you! There, you happy? Glad I had more to say?"

Sirius swallowed the lump in his throat. "I won't call you sweet cheeks anymore," he said lamely.

"I know," she snarled. "Because you won't be calling me _anything _from now on." Gigi started to stomp off until she heard Sirius speak up.

"But I can't believe that you're going to blame your whole failed love life on me," Sirius said nervously.

"Excuse me?" Gigi asked, turning around but not walking back.

"You are being _so _fuckin' unfair," Sirius said. "Okay, yes, I didn't exactly handle you and I very well." Gigi snorted and took a few angry steps towards Sirius. "Okay, I didn't handle it well _at all_. But you were a player before me! It wasn't that all of a sudden we slept together and you became a slut! How many guys had you been with before me? It must have been thousands!"

"NONE!" Gigi cried out and then instantly regretted it.

"Wha-what?" Sirius asked.

"Never mind," Gigi said quickly.

"None?" Sirius repeated.

"Forget it," Gigi said quickly.

"None?"

"Yes, _none_. It's the number of brain cells you have," Gigi retorted.

"You hadn't been with anyone?" Sirius asked carefully.

Gigi sighed. "Okay, _yes_, I had snogged and done a few other things with a few guys before you but I hadn't…" Gigi trailed off, not actually wanting to say that she hadn't shagged anyone before Sirius.

"Oh," Sirius said, knowing full well what she was meaning to say.

They just looked at each other as the portrait hole swung open and there stood Lily. "Hey guys, when we told you to go argue somewhere else…we didn't mean right outside the room. We were thinking maybe in the Gryffindor commons room…or Ireland."

"Uh huh," Sirius murmured, not taking his eyes off of Gigi who was now looking down at the ground.

"Understand?" Lily asked.

"Uh huh," Sirius said, not listening to Lily.

Lily stared at the two of them. "Aren't you gonna move?" Lily asked.

"Uh huh," Sirius muttered.

"Sirius!" Lily exclaimed. "Are you listening to me?"

"What?" Sirius said, finally looking at Lily. "I mean, yeah, monkeys and bananas. Got it."

Lily rolled her eyes and looked at Gigi standing perfectly still just looking at the ground. "What's going on?"

Sirius glanced over at Gigi who was intently staring at the floor and he shrugged. "She's looking for a bug."

"What's happening out here?" James asked.

"Oh nothing," Lily said with a shrug. "Monkeys, bananas, and bugs."

"I'm just not gonna ask," James said.

"Good idea," Lily said. She glanced at Sirius and Gigi once more, shrugged, and walked back into her commons room with James.

Sirius ran his hands through his hair anxiously trying to think of a way to get rid of the awkward silence. "I didn't know that," Sirius said lamely, referring to what they were talking about before Lily interrupted.

"Look Black," Gigi said frankly. "It happened, it's done with, let's forget it, okay?"

"No, _not _okay," Sirius said firmly.

"Well that's too damn bad!" Gigi snapped. "The reason I hate you is because of _you_. The reason we're not friends is because if _you_."

"You don't hate me," Sirius said. "You said so yourself."

"Like I said before, I didn't mean what I said the other day," Gigi argued.

Sirius stepped forward so he was only inches away from Gigi. "Okay, but the question is," Sirius said, looking dead into Gigi's eyes. "Do you _really _hate me?"

Gigi tried to tear her eyes away but she couldn't. She just kept staring into Sirius's eyes but didn't say a word. Very slowly, Sirius brought his lips to Gigi's. Instead of pulling away, she deepened the kiss, allowing her tongue to explore his mouth. Eventually, they broke apart and just stared at each other.

"I didn't think so," Sirius whispered.

Gigi swallowed the lump in her throat. "I hafta go," she whispered, and with one last glance at Sirius, she sped down the hallway and out of sight.

* * *

"Let me run something past you," Sirius said to his friends. "Gabrielle called me an asshole-" 

"So far I agree," Remus teased.

Sirius ignored him, "-because I told her I didn't want to see her anymore and that I was bored with her," Sirius said. "And she got all defenseless and mad. And she told me to go to hell…which seems to be where I'm going, since _every _girl tells me that." Sirius shrugged it off. "I don't get why she got so mad."

"Maybe because you told her you didn't want to see her anymore and that you were bored with her," Remus said.

"Hmm…and that would make her mad?" Sirius joked. "Gabrielle and I weren't even going out! It was just a casual thing."

"Well of course it was," Remus said. "Because you never have anything more serious than 'casual.'"

Sirius paused. "Are you insulting me?"

"No…I'm merely stating that you don't know what a relationship is," Remus said with a shrug.

"And is that an insult?"

"No…I just think you should figure out that there is more to life than just random hook ups," Remus said.

"Is _that _an insult?" Sirius asked.

"Okay yes, I am insulting you!" Remus exclaimed, giving up.

"That's not very nice," Sirius said. "…what were you saying about me?"

"Someone else deal with him before I strangle him," Remus said through gritted teeth.

"I don't even understand how you got bored with her all of a sudden," James said.

"Why can't you understand that?"

"Because last week you said you would never get bored with Gabrielle," James said bluntly.

"Oh…than I guess I can see why you don't understand why I got bored all of a sudden," Sirius joked.

"Yeah!" Peter contributed. "You said Gabrielle was the best thing to walk into her your life and she was so wild and spontaneous that you could never get bored with her."

Sirius shrugged. "Things change."

"Apparently," Remus said with a shrug.

"Whoa, who is that pretty thing?" James asked with a low whistle looking at a fifth year.

"I can certainly tell you who she isn't," Lily said coming up from behind him. "Your girlfriend."

"Oh, are you sure? I mean she looks like my girlfriend," James said sheepishly. "Maybe I should wear glasses."

"You _do _wear glasses," Lily confirmed.

James paused. "So, you look absolutely gorgeous today..."

"Smooth," Sirius whispered under his breath. "So is anyone else getting bored with classes? Does anyone else feel like they get in the way of having fun?" Sirius asked, changing the subject.

"I actually like learning," Remus said.

"And that's why you're single," Sirius noted.

"I like to learn also," Lily said.

"And that's why you're with a loser," Sirius said.

"Hey!" James argued. "I'm sorry, but _who _is the one that once again got bored with some bimbo and is now all alone?"

"Hey! You dated this bimbo at some point in your life!" Sirius said.

"No I didn't," James argued.

"I know," Sirius pouted. "I was just trying to make myself feel better."

"Because clearly _James_ isn't here to make you feel better," Peter teased.

"Lily, get out while you can," Remus muttered. "Look what you've gotten yourself into."

"I'm starting to think he's not worth it," Lily joked, glancing over at James.

"We can be bored and alone _together!_" Sirius said excitedly.

James turned to Lily. "Don't ever leave me."

Lily laughed and placed her hand in James's. "Get rid of Sirius and I won't."

"He wouldn't do that Lily. We're best friends, we're pals-" Sirius started.

"See ya Sirius," James said.

"We're nothing," Sirius finished, gaping at James. "Now I really _am _alone."

"Hey guys," Kacie said, walking up to them. Sirius grinned mischievously at Kacie. Kacie turned to her other friends, pointed her thumb in Sirius's direction and said, "Why is he looking at me like that?"

"He's afraid he's gonna end up alone," James whispered. "And perhaps you and him…" James trailed off.

"He's not getting with me," Kacie said.

Sirius pouted. "I hate my friends."

"You won't end up alone. You won't even end the _week _alone," Remus said.

"Just go after the next girl who comes around the corner," Peter said. "Isn't that how you usually pick your girls?"

Everyone turned to look at the corner to see who would be coming around it. A few seconds later, Gigi turned the corner.

Everyone looked back at Sirius who said, "Then again, ending up alone doesn't sound so bad."

"Hey Gi!" Lily cried out.

"Gotta go," Sirius mumbled and then he rushed in the opposite direction.

"What was that about?" James asked, watching Sirius zoom out of sight.

"Don't ask me, he's _your _friend," Lily said.

"He probably saw some girl over there," Peter said with a shrug.

"Where were you just now?" Lily asked Gigi as she walked over.

"Library," Gigi said. Lily gave her a look that clearly said she didn't believe her. "And by library, I mean broom closet."

"Oh, you have some secret desire to become a janitor?" James joked.

"Is that what _you _do in a broom closet? Find a mop and some dishrags to fulfill your life long dream of becoming a janitor?" Gigi asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Why yes, actually, that's ex_actly_ what I do in a broom closet," James teased.

"That's not what we were doing yesterday," Lily murmured.

"Maybe not you, but _I _was in there looking for the perfect mop," James joked.

"In my mouth?" Lily questioned.

"Whoa, and the innocent Lily just keeps on getting corrupted," Remus said.

"Okay you are ruining this," James pouted to Lily. "Now everyone thinks I'm some kissing maniac who does it all the time."

"_Now?_" Kacie asked, rolling her eyes. "We've known this for awhile."

James shrugged. "Guess there's no point in fooling you."

"Especially since you're really bad at it," Gigi noted.

"Don't we have some class to get to?" James asked.

"No," everyone else said.

"Oh…where were we going?" James asked.

"Lunch," Remus said.

"FOOD!" James cried out.

"The one thing he likes better than snogging," Remus muttered.

"Put them together…" James said slowly. "Lily covered in chocolate. There's _nothing _better than that."

"You do know that I'm standing right here…right?" Lily asked.

James looked at her sheepishly. "You're perrrrty," he purred.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Let's get food."

"FOOD!"

* * *

"Wrong!" Remus argued. 

"Right!" Peter yelled.

"Wrong!" Remus yelled.

Sirius looked up from the couch in the commons room. He turned to James. "What are they fighting about?"

"First it started with which was scarier, Snape with a girlfriend or McGonagall with a boyfriend. When I said it was Snape with a girlfriend, they started arguing over whether I was right or wrong," James said with a shrug.

"At least they're being productive," Sirius said rolling his eyes.

"RIGHT!"

"WRONG!"

James turned his head away from his two friends, rolled his eyes, and placed his attention on Sirius. "So where were you at lunch?"

"I wasn't hungry," Sirius said with a shrug.

"RIG-" Peter started and then Remus and Peter instantly stopped, grew quiet for a few seconds, and turned their heads to look at Sirius. "What?"

"What?" Remus asked.

"What?" James asked.

Sirius looked up from his book. "What?"

"Did you just say you weren't _hungry_?" James asked and then glanced at the book in Sirius's hands. "And you're reading a book…that has no _pictures_?"

"Um…yeah?" Sirius asked.

"And you practically ran away when Gigi headed towards us," James said.

Sirius averted his eyes from James and looked back down at the book. "Of course."

"Of course what? Or course you went crazy?" James asked. "Because that seems to be the only explanation I can think of."

"Look, just because I didn't eat lunch with you and I'm reading something doesn't mean I went crazy," Sirius said.

"Right…because that would imply that you aren't al_ready _crazy," Remus said.

"Why'd you leave when you saw Gigi coming?" James demanded to know.

"Because she hates me," Sirius said simply, no looking up from his book.

"She's always hated you…you've never run away before," James noted.

Sirius slammed the book shut. "Giliba and I don't get along. Period. End of story. Sorry if I didn't want to stick around to hear her yell at me or tell me I'm a player. I'm getting pretty goddamned tired of her thinking she's better than me so I left. There's no other reason I left when I saw her coming. I just didn't want to deal with her shit." And with that, Sirius got up and sauntered off to his room.

James, Remus, and Peter exchanged. "There _so _is another reason," James said after a moment of silence as he plopped down on the couch.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

_I am very busy this week with studying and getting ready for spring break, but the more you review, the more time I'll find timeto update. _:o)


	17. Rosette, Mr Rubber Ducky, & Random Girl

**_Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 17_**

_I had tons of work last week (midterms...eek!) so i'm sorry this is long overdue. _

_disclaimer: i think you've got the hang of this by now._

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

James tossed the ball up in the air and caught it. He was lying on his back on his bed, face up toward the ceiling. After throwing the ball up and catching it again, he turned to Sirius. "You know what we haven't done in awhile?"

"Homework?" Sirius teased, looking up from the floor.

James laughed and turned on his side. "No…I was talking about sneaking into Hogsmeade."

"It _has _been awhile," Sirius said, adjusting his back which was leaning against the wall.

"We should do that this weekend," James suggested.

"I bet Rosette misses us."

"I doubt she misses being hit on by you," James said with a laugh.

"James, haven't you learned by now. _No _ones dislikes being hit on by me," Sirius said with a grin. "Plus, it's the only way I can get her to give us alcohol."

"The only way we get alcohol is by reassuring her that we'll keep _you _far away from _her_," James said.

"Oh…" Sirius said slowly. "Really?"

James nodded and tossed the ball to Sirius. "Knowing her, she'll run and hide when she sees you coming."

Sirius caught the ball and threw it back. "I think I'm losing my touch. I'm starting to repulse girls."

"Not _girls, _just Rosmerta," James corrected. "And Gigi."

"I haven't always repulsed Giliba," Sirius muttered. "Just within the last year and a half."

"So dude, what's been going on with you two?" James said, sitting up.

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked.

"Well, recently, the hallways and classrooms and common room have been quiet because there's no yelling coming from you two," James said. "And I can't remember the last time you and Gigi were in the same room. It's been two weeks and neither one of you have said a word to each other."

"Yeah, because we hate each other. And we've learned that it's probably better to just stay away from each other than to yell at each other," Sirius said with a shrug, not looking up at James.

"And you're sure nothing else happened?" James asked.

"I'm sure," Sirius said.

Just then, James burst out laughing. Sirius looked up at him. "What's so funny?"

"Do you remember the first time we snuck Gigi into Hogsmeade?" James asked.

Sirius thought about it and he too burst out laughing. "She was so drunk!"

"If I recall, you had to _carry _her back to Hogwarts," James said with a laugh. "And we had classes the next morning."

"I don't think she even knew her own name," Sirius said. "Let alone what classes she had."

"And the professor asked if she was okay…" James said.

"And she called him Mr. Rubber Ducky," Sirius ended.

"She hated us for weeks," James said.

Sirius smiled and looked up at James. "So, are you going to invite Lily to go to Hogsmeade with us?"

"She won't want to go. It's not her kind of thing. She won't enjoy it. Getting drunk when she has so much work to do and has Head Girl responsibilities isn't something she'll go for," James rambled on.

"You're not gonna tell her are you," Sirius said with a smirk.

"Not a chance."

Sirius laughed and then said. "Do you think we can convince Remus?"

"Remus may seem like a good-two shoes but he's a Marauder," James said. "In the end, he's willing to do anything even with the risk of getting caught. I mean, c'mon, he _was _the one to find the first secret passage way into Hogsmeade."

"Yeah because he got lost on the way to the Great Hall," Sirius muttered and the two of them laughed. "So, you think he'll come?"

"Oh definitely."

* * *

"No." 

"Oh, c'mon Moony," Sirius begged.

"No."

Sirius turned to James. "Remus is coming."

"No."

"Come on!" James urged.

"Okay."

"Really?" Sirius exclaimed.

"No!" Remus cried out.

"Oh come _on _Rem. You're a Marauder! This is what we _do_," James exclaimed.

"Getting drunk and hitting on random chicks is _not _what we do," Remus said. James and Sirius gave him a look. "Okay, it's not what _I _do. I study and graduate without getting _expelled_."

"That's crazy talk," Sirius said.

"What's the fun in that?" James asked.

"Seriously, how did you become a Marauder?" Sirius asked Remus.

"I'm the smart one. Without me, your pranks would consist of throwing a piece of parchment at a Slytherin," Remus said, rolling his eyes.

"But it would be a _hard _piece of parchment," Sirius noted. James hit Sirius on the shoulder. "Oh right, but that's not the point." Sirius paused and then turned to James. "What was our point?"

"You _have _to come with us," James said.

"Oh yeah!" Sirius exclaimed and looked at James again. "I can take it from here." He turned back to Remus. "You _have _to come with us."

James rolled his eyes. "Come on Remus, we used to do this all the time."

"Yeah…and it's amazing to me that you've never been caught," Remus muttered.

"Maybe this time, we will!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Oh now I _really _want to come," Remus said sarcastically. He turned to James. "And what about you? What does _Lily _have to say about this?"

"Oh she doesn't care," James said with a shrug. Remus gave him a look. "…mostly because she doesn't know."

"Oh good, so you're gonna start off this new relationship by _lying_ to her?" Remus asked.

"I'm not lying…I'm just not telling her," James said.

"Oh who cares," Sirius said, jumping over the back of the couch and sitting beside Remus. "He's been lying to girls for years. It's a Marauder thing."

"So basically I've learned that Marauders get drunk, hit on random chicks, and lie to girls?" Remus asked.

"Exactly!" Sirius cried out.

Remus glanced from James to Sirius. "I want out of the Marauders."

James and Sirius laughed but Sirius started giving Remus a sad face. "Pleeeease Moony."

Remus threw his hands up in frustration. "Fine," he said and James and Sirius cheered. "It's not like I would miss an opportunity to mock Sirius for the rest of his life."

"You saying I'm gonna do something stupid?"

"No," Remus said. "I'm saying you're gonna do _multiple _stupid things."

Sirius grinned. "Well, I'm going to go write down all the pick up lines I'm going to use on Rosette."

As Sirius walked out, James turned to Remus. "And I'm going to go write down all the ways I can get Sirius to stay as far away from her as possible."

James left and Remus just shook his head. "And I'm going to write down the hundreds of rules we'll be breaking."

* * *

Lily plopped down on Gigi's bed. "What does a guy mean when he says he's hanging out with the guys on a Saturday night?" 

Gigi looked up. "Well, and correct me if this sounds at all wrong to you, I think it means that he's going to be hanging out with the guys on Saturday night."

Lily rolled her eyes and put her head down on Gigi's pillow. "He wouldn't tell me what they were doing. Just that he's gonna hang with the guys. Like he doesn't do that enough. He hangs out with them all the time."

"It just means they're gonna do guy things together," Gigi said with a shrug.

"But what exactly is a _guy thing_?"

"You're killing me here Lily," Gigi said, putting down her quill and shifting her body so she was facing Lily. "Why does it matter?"

Lily sighed and rolled over on her back and faced the ceiling. "Because now I have no one to hang out with Saturday night."

"What am I? Chopped liver?" Gigi asked.

Lily laughed. "But I can't kiss you."

"You could…" Gigi said. "…I just don't think you'd enjoy it very much."

Lily laughed again. "Alright, let's have a girl's night. It will be _way _better than their stupid guy's night."

Gigi burst out laughing. "Oh yeah because girls hanging out chatting about boys is so much better than playing pranks and getting drunk."

Lily jolted up. "You think _that's _what they're doing?"

Gigi froze. "Uh…no?"

"Good…so they won't be doing anything illegal?" Lily questioned.

"Oh no, they are _definitely _going to be doing something illegal," Gigi said.

Lily groaned. "How do you know so much about guys?"

"Because remember, I used to be an honorary member of the Marauders. And at least once a week, it was a ritual to get drunk, play a prank, or get with random girls."

Lily's eyes grew big. "Get with random girls?"

Gigi smiled sheepishly. "Oh don't worry Lils. They've grown up."

"So you don't think they'll do anything stupid?" Lily asked.

"Oh no, they _definitely _will," Gigi said.

Lily groaned again. "What did I get myself into?"

Kacie walked in just then and saw Lily pounding her head against the pillow. "What's up with her?" Kacie whispered to Gigi.

"She just found out what guys do when they're not with us girls."

"Oh," Kacie said. "Did you tell her that they usually talk about how many times they have had sex and what hot girls they've done it with?"

"Shut up," Lily muttered into the pillow.

"Guess not," Kacie said with a grin.

"So, we're having a girl's night on Saturday," Gigi said, rolling her eyes at Kacie.

"Don't we have a girl's night _every _night?" Kacie asked with a laugh. "And why do you assume that I can come? Maybe I'm busy. Maybe I have a date."

"Oh okay, so you're not going to be able to come?" Gigi asked.

"Oh no, I'm definitely there," Kacie said. "I mean c'mon, it's me. Of _course _I'm not busy."

Lily sat up from the bed. "So what are we going to do?"

"Something wild! Something exciting! Something we've never done before!" Gigi exclaimed.

"Scrabble?" Lily suggested.

"At least make it monopoly," Kacie joked.

"You guys are the worst friends ever," Gigi joked.

"You should go back to being friends with Sirius then," Lily said.

"You girls are the best friends EVER!" Gigi exclaimed and they all laughed.

"What exciting things did you used to do?" Kacie asked.

"Skinny dip in the lake, sneak into Hogsmeade, drink stolen alcohol in the dorms, make the commons room into a big dance, play pranks on Slytherins, streak across the Quidditch pitch," Gigi said with a shrug.

"So, anything against the rules basically," Lily said.

"Exactly."

"We should go out by the woods and drink," Kacie said.

"We can't do that!" Lily cried out.

"Why not?" Gigi asked.

"Because it's illegal!" Lily exclaimed. "…and because the bears could eat us."

Kacie rolled her eyes. "It's settled, we're going to sneak into Hogsmeade, get alcohol, and hang out outside while getting totally wasted."

"The last time I got totally wasted, I ended up doing something really stupid," Lily said.

"Aw, don't say that. You slept with James," Kacie said. "Really stupid doesn't even be_gin _to describe what you did."

Lily threw the pillow at Kacie. "But I'm up for it," Lily said with a shrug. "It'll be fun."

"Either after six years, you've finally listened to us, or James has rubbed off on you," Gigi said.

"I'd go with the latter," Kacie said with a grin.

* * *

"Invisibility cloak?" Sirius asked. 

"Check," James responded.

"Marauder's map?"

"Check," Remus answered.

"Hot bodies?" Sirius asked.

"Double check," James answered with a grin.

"And triple check for myself," Sirius said. Sirius smirked. "So tonight's the night."

"The night you come to your senses and realize you're really _not _that hot?" Remus asked.

"The night I come to my senses is a long way off," Sirius said. "And every girl at Hogwarts would disagree with that last part."

Remus shook his head in disbelief. "The day you're in a real relationship is going to be the day _I _stop howling at the moon," Remus said, rolling his eyes.

"So Peter, how's Penny doing?" James asked, changing the subject.

"Ugh," Peter muttered.

"What happened with you two?" Remus asked.

Peter shrugged. "I've decided that if a girl is going to like me, she's gonna like me for who I really am."

"She dumped you huh?" James asked.

"Oh yeah."

The guys laughed. "Well then, this is the perfect opportunity to get drunk and hook up with a random chick."

"So no matter what happens, we're all going to end up back here by five in the morning, right?" Remus asked.

"That depends," Sirius said. "Do you mean five in the morning tomorrow? Or five o'clock _Monday _morning?"

"Five _tomorrow _morning," Remus insisted.

"We should synchronize our watches," Sirius said.

"We don't have watches," James said.

"Then we won't do that," Sirius said.

"There's no point in initiating a time to be back," James said with a shrug. "Sirius will end up with some girl and won't come back at all."

"And you're gonna be so drunk and horny that you're going to climb into bed with Lily," Sirius said.

"And Remus is going to be throwing up in some bathroom all night," James said.

"And Peter is going to be sobbing about how he missed Penny and will be serenading her outside her window," Remus noted.

"So basically we all agree _not _to meet back here at five in the morning," James said.

"Exactly," Remus responded.

"As long as that's clear," Sirius said. "You guys ready to go?"

"Let's go get drunk!" James exclaimed.

* * *

"Rosette!" Sirius shrieked, walking into the bar. 

"Oh god," she muttered. "Maybe he didn't see me."

"You miss us baby doll?" Sirius asked, walking right up to the counter.

"Oh it hasn't been that long," Rosette said. "Only three months, three weeks, and six days…but who's counting."

"What's new sweet thang?" Sirius asked with a low whisper.

"Obviously _you're _not new…just the same 'ol Sirius," she said with a roll of her eyes.

"How 'bout you just get us four beers and we'll get him out of the way," James said.

"You do and all four of these are on the house," Rosette joked.

"Look Sirius! A _puppy!_" Remus cried out.

"Who cares," Sirius said.

"Eating cake," Peter added.

"Cake!" Sirius cried out, running over to see where the puppy was.

"I _knew _I should have started out with food," Remus muttered and then looked up at Rosette, the bartender. "How've you been?"

"Sane," she answered. "Until that boy walked in. What the hell do you guys feed him?"

"You mean besides everything in sight?" James joked, taking a swig of his beer.

"Why is he always so hyper?" Rosette wondered. "Did you switch his coffee with crack?"

"No," Peter said. "We switched his crack with coffee."

Rosette glanced over at Sirius searching around for a puppy and she smiled. "He's kinda cute."

"What?" Remus asked.

"What?" Peter asked.

"_What?_" James cried out, spitting some of his beer out.

"Do us a favor," Remus said. "Do _not _tell him that."

Rosette snuck another look over at Sirius. "Is anyone else concerned that he's crawling on the floor?"

The three boys whipped their heads in his direction. "He's looking for a puppy," James said.

Rosette laughed. "And he's not even drunk yet."

* * *

"Twelve beers, ten firewhiskeys, six screwdrivers, and a bottle of wine," Gigi said, looking into the bag and counting. She was meeting the girls in the woods and had just collected the necessary alcoholic beverages. 

"Turn the song up!" a voice cried out.

Gigi gasped, knowing perfectly well who that voice belonged to. She glanced into the bar and sure enough, there were the four boys, flirting and dancing. Or at least three of them were, she didn't know where-

"Black?" she asked as someone ran into her.

Sirius turned around and there standing in front of him was Gigi. "Giliba?"

"Wha-what…" Gigi took a deep breath. "What are you doing here?"

"Guy stuff."

"Getting as drunk as possible and hitting on random girls?"

"Getting as drunk as possible," Sirius said.

"No random girls?"

Sirius just shrugged but didn't answer.

"So that's why James didn't tell Lily what you guys were doing tonight," Gigi said, looking down at her feet.

Sirius just gave a sheepish grin and glanced down at the bag full of alcohol. "Getting as drunk as possible and hitting on random guys?"

"Getting as drunk as possible," Gigi repeated.

"No random guys?" Sirius asked.

"It's just as girls. We're hanging out on the east side of the woods," Gigi said.

"Be careful," Sirius said.

Gigi gave him a suspicious look.

"Uh…I hear there are bears," Sirius fibbed, also not sure where the 'be careful' came from. "And werewolves and bats...and Lily."

"Lily?"

"She can be very scary at times."

Gigi half smiled. "Make sure James doesn't do anything stupid."

"Okay, what is this?" Sirius finally asked.

"Some people call it a conversation," Gigi said. "But I understand that you're not used to using your mouth for just talking."

Sirius ignored her comment. "No, what is _this_? You and me. Having a civil conversation. Making small talk. Like friends do."

Gigi just shrugged. "Lily and Kacie are waiting for me," Gigi said lamely.

Sirius looked down at his feet and then back up. "Of course."

"Hey mister! One drink and one dance is _not _enough," a girl said, coming to the entrance of the bar and looping her arm around Sirius's waist.

Sirius and Gigi just looked at each other until Gigi turned away. Sirius sighed and looked at the girl. "I'll be right in." the girl smiled and bounced off.

Gigi gave Sirius a fake smile and then turned and walked away. "Hey Giliba!" Sirius cried out.

Gigi turned around and looked at Sirius but didn't say anything.

"I just…" Sirius said, not sure what he wanted to say. He opened his mouth, trying to figure out what to say.

Gigi tilted her head and gave Sirius a half smile, trying hide not to show her true feelings. "Your random girl is waiting."

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_more interaction between Gigi and Sirius next chapter! all you need to do is review!_


	18. Little Birdie, Study Session & Old Times

_**Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 18**_

_i am soooooooooooooooooooooooo sorry that this update is so late! I've been really busy with work and I was in Washington DC for a bit and I had my spring break...etc etc. but i am finally updating so you can't hate me that much!_

_disclaimer: blah blah i'm not JK Rowling etc etc_

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"WAHOO!" Lily shouted, doing a cartwheel on the grass a few hours later.

Kacie laughed as she took a huge gulp of wine straight from the bottle and Gigi just rolled her eyes, getting ready to climb the tree.

"Hey Gi, be careful," Kacie advised.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Gigi cried out from the tree.

"Be careful!" Kacie shouted.

"Hmm, 'be careful.' Now, I remembered how to climb the tree, and how to get up here on this branch, but why the hell couldn't I remember to _be careful_," Gigi said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"You will be _sooo _sorry when you fall," Kacie joked.

"Is anyone else hot?" Lily asked, taking off her sweater.

"Lily, you're gonna freeze. All you're wearing is a tank top under that sweater!" Gigi yelled from the tree.

"She's moments away from streaking in the woods," Kacie said with a giggle and another sip of wine.

"I'd pay to see that," Gigi said, also giggling.

"How come we don't do this more often?" Lily asked.

"It's illegal and expensive," Gigi said.

"I like hanging out with just the girrrls," Lily said, rolling her r's. "Who needs the male species?"

"I do," Gigi said. "Sex with girls is just no fun."

"Snogging girls isn't any fun either," Kacie said with a wink.

* * *

"Whoooa," Sirius said, whacking James in the arm and pointing to his other friend. "Look at Peter."

"Damn," James said. "He's not usually the first one to snog a girl he picks up in the bar." James turned to Sirius. "It's usually you."

Sirius shrugged. "No girl prospects today."

"Are you kidding?" James asked, taking another drink of beer. "You've been dancing with at least a dozen of them. By now, you'd be stumbling back to the room to have sex with one of them."

"I'd rather just get drunk and hang out with you," Sirius said.

"If I was single, coming to a bar to hang out with you would be the last thing I'd want to do," James said. "No offense."

"How the hell did you mean no offense from that comment?" Sirius joked.

"Oh you know I love hanging out with you," James said. "Although, right now I'm picturing you as Lily."

Sirius hit him over the head and ordered another beer.

"Is anyone else surprised that Peter is the only one out of us getting some from a girl?" Remus asked, coming over and sitting on a stool at the bar.

"He's probably pretending the girl is Penny," Sirius said with a laugh.

"So how much have you had to drink?" James asked Remus.

"Far less than you and Sirius," Remus explained.

"Well then here," Sirius said, sticking two beers into Remus's hands. "Drink these."

"You trying to get me drunk?" Remus asked, taking the beers from Sirius.

"Yeah, and then he's gonna take advantage of you," James said with a laugh.

"Well, hello boys," Rosette said, coming over to them.

"Please Rosette. We aren't boys," Sirius said. "We are grown men."

"You still sleep with a nightlight," Remus said.

Sirius pouted and turned to Rosette. "So you were saying?"

"Just seeing how you guys are doing," Rosette said with a shrug.

"As long as we've got alcohol in us, we're perfectly happy," Sirius said with a wink.

"And Peter has a girl…so he's the happiest of all," James noted.

"Well, I'm going home in five minutes," Rosette said.

"Need help getting home?" Sirius asked flirtatiously.

"Oh yeah, because apparating home is really hard," Rosette said.

"I hear it's a two person job," Sirius said.

Rosette smiled and ruffled Sirius's hair. "Maybe next time hon." And with that, she walked away.

"She so wants me," Sirius said.

"And we are _so_ out of here," Peter said, coming up from behind.

"Why?"

"That girl wants to bring me home to meet her parents," Peter hissed.

The three boys looked at him and burst out laughing. "You are so screwed!"

"I'm not ready to leave," James said. "I'm not drunk enough and it's no where near five o'clock."

Sirius smiled widely. "C'mon, I know where else we can have fun."

* * *

"What is this that I'm drinking?" Lily asked with a giggle.

"Beer," Kacie answered.

"Wine," Gigi corrected.

Kacie and Gigi exchanged glances and burst out laughing. "Who cares? It's alcohol."

"The only thing missing from this night is some hot guy to hook up with," Kacie said.

"No need to look much further Kace," a voice said from across the way.

All three girls turned their heads to see the four Marauder's standing there.

"What are you doing here?" Lily asked with a giggle.

"Saving you before you freeze to death," James said, taking his robes off and bringing them over to Lily.

"A little birdie told us you'd be here," Sirius said, making eye contact with Gigi.

"It's winter Si," Kacie noted. "All the little birdies went south."

"After leaving Hogsmeade-" Sirius started.

"Where we were having a study session," James cut in, eyeing Lily.

"Sirius told us he knew where we could have some more fun," Remus said.

"After our study session," James said.

"So he brought us here," Peter ended.

"To relax after the study session," James finished.

"Oh quit it James. Your girlfriend knows what you were doing. She's not an idiot," Sirius said.

"Idiot, idiot, idiot," Lily slurred jokingly.

"I take that back," Sirius said with a laugh.

"Is she _drrunk_?" James hissed to the other two girls, slurring the word drunk.

"Of course," Kacie said. "Just like you are."

"Because they give you drinks in that study session, right Potter?" Gigi said with a laugh. "AGH!" Gigi shouted, falling out of the tree.

"GIGI!" Sirius cried out.

Everyone else froze and looked over at him. "Did you just all her _Gigi_?"

"Okay, the girl just fell out of a tree and you're worrying about what I _called _her?" Sirius asked.

"Ha! Told ya you'd be sorry," Kacie said to Gigi, who was clearly okay and laughing about the whole thing.

"Okay, I don't find this funny," Sirius said, obviously annoyed.

Kacie handed him a beer. "Drink some more beers. _Then _you'll find it funny."

Sirius rolled his eyes, but gladly took the beer.

"Where's your random girl?" Gigi asked, looking up at Sirius.

Sirius just shrugged but didn't say anything and instead, took a sip of the beer.

"Do you guys do this every weekend?" James wondered.

"Oh yeah, I am _totally _the kind of person to get drunk every single weekend," Lily said, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, the last time Lily was drunk was the night she did the stupidest thing ever," Kacie said.

"And what's that?" James asked.

"Slept with you," Kacie said with a smirk.

Remus, Peter, and Sirius burst out laughing. "HA! She told you."

"And the last time _Gigi _was hammered, _she _did something really stupid," Kacie said.

"Which was what?"

"Slept with Sirius," Kacie said, looking over at him.

It was James's turn to burst out laughing. "_Ha!_"

"And now _you're _wasted," Gigi said to Kacie. Then Gigi turned to Remus and Peter. "Better get those condoms ready."

"Okay, that's a lie," Sirius interjected. "Giliba is drunk at every party, every social event, and almost every weekend. The last time she was drunk was _not _when she slept with me."

"Can we not talk about me as if I'm not here," Gigi said.

"How did our guys night out turn into a night out with the guys _and _girls?" Peter wondered.

"We're guys. We have hormones. And Sirius and James can't get away from girls for more than two seconds," Remus concluded.

"Plus, if I recall," Sirius noted. "_You _were the only one of us to hook up with a girl back at the bar."

"And now you're setting a wedding date," James said with a laugh.

* * *

"Are you _kidding_?" Kacie cried out an hour later. "I always figured it would be Remus walking in on _Sirius_."

"Well that happened too," Sirius said, gulping down the rest of his beer.

"And who were you with?" Lily asked, taking the wine bottle from James.

"Summer Anston," Remus said with a shrug.

"And who did you walk in on with Sirius?" Kacie asked.

Remus paused.

"Can't remember the girl?"

"No…I'm just trying to remember the names of all four of them," Remus said.

Gigi (who had climbed back into the tree) started climbing down the branch. "I'm bored of this conversation."

"Well we can talk about _your _sex life," Peter said.

Gigi turned to Remus. "So Summer Anston huh?"

Gigi started walking into the woods, trying to walk off the alcohol. Sirius, who was already standing and leaning against a tree, went after her. "What are you doing?"

"Looking for bears, werewolves, and bats," she said, rolling her eyes. Gigi leaned against a tree and looked up at Sirius. "How was the bar?"

"Apparently the bartender hates me and we were kicked out," Sirius said with a shrug.

Gigi looked at him suspiciously. "Why were you _really _kicked out?"

"Peter started dancing on the tables and broke one," Sirius said.

"Are you kidding?" Gigi asked.

Sirius laughed. "Yeah," Sirius said with a shrug. "Peter snogged some girl and then she wanted him to meet her parents so we bolted."

Gigi burst out laughing. "I wish I didn't miss that."

"Come with us next time and you won't have to miss it," Sirius said with a shrug.

"Like old times?" Gigi asked.

"Exactly like old times," Sirius said, not daring to take his eyes off of Gigi.

Gigi gulped as she realized their faces were really close. "Those were good times," she whispered.

"Extremely good times," Sirius whispered back, almost inaudible. They couldn't take their eyes off each other and Gigi brought her lips to his. Sirius, who was taken aback, wrapped his arms around Gigi and let his tongue enter her mouth. Gigi moaned and explored Sirius's mouth with her tongue, deepening the kiss with fervor she had never felt before. They stood here, kissing passionately, and Gigi let her hands wander into his unruly hair.

"But so Summer said that sh…oh my god," Remus said, barely audible.

"She said oh my god?" Lily asked.

"Gigi and Sirius are making out," Remus said.

"She said Gigi and Sirius are making out?" Kacie asked.

"No, _I'm _saying that Gigi and Sirius are making out," Remus claimed.

The other friends looked at Remus and then burst out laughing. "Nice joke, Rem. So what did Summer say?"

"No, I'm not kidding," Remus said, pointing into the woods. The other four turned their heads to see what Remus was pointing at.

"OH MY GOD!" they all cried out.

"Oh they are _so _going to be mocked for the rest of their lives," James said with a smirk.

* * *

"I feel like a piano is sitting on my head," Lily explained with a groan the next morning.

"At least you weren't throwing up all night like Gi," Kacie said.

"I can't believe _I _wasn't throwing up," Lily said. "I thought Gi could hold her liquor."

"Maybe it was the snogging with Sirius that made her throw up," Kacie said with a snort.

"Isn't there some hangover spell?" Lily asked from the ground of Kacie and Gigi's room.

"There probably is…it's just not something they teach us here," Kacie said, getting up and opening the shades and bringing the sun into the room.

"AGH!" Gigi cried out. "No light!"

Kacie glanced at Lily and started laughing. "How you feeling this morning Gi?"

"Like I died last night and just came back to life," Gigi moaned.

"That just about sums up how I feel too," Lily said.

"My hair hurts," Gigi said. Kacie and Lily looked at each other and laughed.

"Who wants to shower?" Kacie asked.

"I just want to eat. My stomach feels incredibly empty," Gigi said.

"Yeah, eating is good," Lily said, attempting to get up from the ground.

"Can you please stop yelling," Gigi said.

Kacie and Lily exchanged glances and whispered, "Sure."

* * *

"Remind me again why we used to do that every weekend," Remus asked, rising from the floor of James's common room.

"Why am I sleeping on a table?" Peter asked, rising from the corner of the commons room.

"Because you thought it was a water bed," Sirius noted.

Peter paused. "Did I get married last night?"

Remus and Sirius exchanged looks and burst out laughing.

"Is it cold in here, or is it just me?" Remus asked.

Sirius laughed. "It's you…apparently you thought it would be great to strip for us last night. And it seems that you forgot to put some of the clothing back on."

Remus looked down at him in just boxers (rather small boxers) and nothing covering him up. "Oops?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Where's James?" Sirius asked.

"Lily's room."

"Why?"

"He thought it was his room," Remus said.

"Oh…so where's Lily?" Sirius asked.

"In Kacie and Gigi's room," Peter responded.

"So despite the fact that you-" Remus pointed to Peter, "-threw up and you-" he pointed to Sirius, "-ended up snogging the girls you supposedly hate," Remus turned his head towards Lily's room, "and James wasn't having fun because he was too worried about his drunk girlfriend…did you have fun?"

Peter and Sirius nodded. "Getting drunk, hooking up with girls, and then feeling like shit in the morning is what being a Marauder is all about," Sirius said.

"So Padfoot…" Peter said slowly. "Did you _know _you were snogging Gigi?"

Sirius opened his mouth to respond but James walked in just then. "How'd I get into Lily's room?"

The other three boys looked at each other and burst out laughing. "It's not important."

"Where is Lily?" James asked, plopping down on the couch next to Sirius.

"Probably at breakfast like everyone else at Hogwarts," Remus said.

"Wrong," a voice said from the entrance of her common room. "She's done with breakfast by now."

Lily walked over to James and gave him a kiss on the lips. "How's my favorite guy doing?"

"I'm your favorite guy?" James asked with a grin, pulling Lily into his lap.

"Well, you're my last hope," Lily said. "One guy is sleeping on the hard floor with practically no clothes on, one guy is sleeping on a wood table, and the other guy is Sirius."

James laughed and asked, "So how are you feeling this morning?"

Lily gave him a look. "How do you _think _I'm feeling?"

"Like you drank a whole lot of alcohol, stripped down to a bare minimum of clothes when it was freezing outside, and don't remember how you got back to Hogwarts in the morning," James said.

"You forgot to say that she tripped over a tree branch," Peter said with a laugh.

Lily laughed with him and then turned to James. "So did you have a good night last night?"

"Not as much fun as Sirius," James mocked, pulling Lily into his lap. Everyone glanced down at Sirius who just smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah, Rosette and I had _such _a connection," Sirius said sarcastically, avoiding the subject of Gigi.

"Who's Rosette?" Lily asked.

"The teacher of the study session," James responded.

"Also known as the bartender," Remus said, rolling his eyes.

"Sirius has had a crush on her for years," Peter noted.

"Even though she's five years older," James said.

"Age has never been a factor before," Sirius said, sitting up.

"I better warn you, Kacie and Gigi are coming over," Lily said to Sirius. "So if you wanna run and hide, now is our chance."

"And that's your warning to put clothes on Rem," James said.

"Hey guys," Kacie said, walking in.

"Apparently it wasn't a long warning," James said.

"Don't get this wrong or anything Gigi…but you look like crap," Peter said.

"If I had any energy at all, I'd hit you," Gigi muttered.

"She spent all morning throwing up," Kacie said. "Leave her alone."

"I'm going into Lily's room," Gigi said, trudging her way towards her room, not daring to look at Sirius. "Hey! Where are the blankets to Lily's bed?"

James looked down at the blanket wrapped around him and Lily. "Oops!"

Lily looked at the blanket around him. "Hey! Why are you wrapped up in _my _blankets?"

"I thought your room was my room last night," James said with a shrug.

"And when you fell into my bed full of fluffypink pillows, you _still _thought it was your room?"

"I thought Sirius was playing a prank on me and changed my entire room to be pink," James said.

"We should never drink again," Lily said, referring to the whole group.

"Yeah, I feel awful," Peter said. "…let's go again next week."

"How did life get so boring that we had to resort to doing illegal things for fun?" Kacie wondered, plopping down on the ground next to Remus.

Sirius got up from the couch and went to Lily's room. "Where are you going?" Lily cried out over her shoulder.

"To go change James's room back to it's natural color," Sirius lied.

Lily looked back to the group. "If they have sex on my bed, I'm never sleeping again."

Kacie, Remus, James, Peter, and Lily all exchanged glances and quickly got up and ran towards Lily's room, to listen outside the door.

"Giliba?" Sirius asked, lightly knocking on the door and entering.

"Hmm?" Gigi asked, barely opening her eyes.

Sirius sat down on the bed next to her and placed his blanket around her. He bit his lip, took a deep breath, and slowly said, "So...last night was interesting."

"Hmm," Gigi repeated and then opened her eyes and faced Sirius. "Guess you got your hookup with a random girl."

"No," Sirius said. "I got my hookup with you."

"It doesn't mean anything Black," Gigi said tiredly.

"Really? Because when you were snogging me for a good hour, I think you thought otherwise," Sirius said.

"No," Gigi said firmly. "This doesn't change anything between us."

"Are you _kidding?_" Sirius exclaimed. "This changes _everything_."

"No!" Gigi cried out, sitting up from the bed and sighing "You're still the same asshole who used me a year and a half ago. You're still the same guy I've hated for a year and a half. You're still the same guy who has continued to be a player and have sex with anything in a skirt for the past year and a half. And I don't feel like getting into all that again."

"Why'd you kiss me then?" Sirius asked.

"I was _drunk._ I would have kissed a _tree _if it came onto me," Gigi said.

"Oh?" Sirius asked. "And what about when we kissed a week ago?"

"If you haven't noticed, you avoided me this past week because of it," Gigi said. "So I'm sorry if I don't want to get involved with someone who ignores me after one silly kiss."

"You avoided me too!" Sirius cried out, jumping up from the bed. "God Giliba! Why can't you for once do something because _you _want to and not because you think it's what you _should _do?"

"What makes you think I want this?" Gigi exclaimed.

"Can you honestly sit here and tell me that it's _not _what you want?" Sirius asked.

Gigi looked up at him but didn't say anything. Eventually she tore her eyes away from him and looked down at her feet, still not able to say anything.

"_That's _what makes me think you want this," Sirius said.

"Stop telling me what I want," Gigi said stubbornly.

"Well _someone _has to tell you since you can't figure out anything on your own!" Sirius shouted, obviously getting aggravated.

"I don't _want _a relationship with an asshole player! I don't _want _to get hurt by you…_again!_" Gigi screamed. "In fact, what I want is for you to leave me the fuck alone!"

"FINE!" Sirius shouted. Sirius stomped off and opened the door, to reveal five people standing behind it.

On impulse, James turned to Lily. "You're right. This door _is _made of real wood."

Sirius just glared at his friends and walked through them and out of the common room.

* * *

"Sirius, wait up!" James called out, Remus and Peter close behind him.

Sirius sighed and stopped, but didn't turn around.

"Some of us are still hungover…running is _not _a good idea," Peter said as they caught up with Sirius.

"What was that about?" James asked.

"You were listening to the whole damn thing. You know exactly what it was about," Sirius said angrily.

"I don't think he's in the mood to talk about it," James said sarcastically to his other friends.

"Shut up James," Sirius snapped.

"Yup, _definitely _doesn't want to talk about it," James confirmed.

"You want me to talk about it?" Sirius scorned, violently whipping around to look at them "Okay, let's talk about it. No matter what I do, it's not good enough for her. Okay, _yes_, I screwed up over a year ago, but I've _changed_. I've grown up since then."

"The millions of girls you've slept with since then would say otherwise," Remus noted. Sirius turned his head and gave him a death stare. "I mean the millions of girls you _haven't _slept with," Remus cowered.

Sirius growled as James said, "What does it matter Si? I mean, I thought you hated Gigi."

Sirius turned to James. "Just like _you _hated _Lily _this past year?" Sirius asked sarcastically, raising his eyebrows.

"Touché."

"Look, _yes, _there has been quite a few girls since Giliba," Sirius said. "But I was with them to try and get over _her_."

"Didn't work, huh?" Peter asked. Sirius snarled at Peter. "Guess not."

"It doesn't matter okay?" Sirius decided. "Who wants a girlfriend anyway? Who wants commitment?" Sirius looked at his three friends and groaned. "Well besides you three."

"Yeah, Peter here went straight through girlfriend all the way to wife," Remus joked.

"Okay! Enough about the Peter getting married cracks!" Peter exclaimed. "How was I supposed to know she would want me to meet her _parents_? And make _cookies _for me?"

"Cookies?" James ears perked up. "Hell, I would've kept dating her for cookies."

"We weren't dating!" Peter cried out.

"Well according to her, you're going to have two children named Mopsy and Bopsy," James snickered.

Remus laughed and turned back to Sirius. "I think it's time to admit that you're tired of watching all of us with girlfriend after girlfriend and now you kind of wish you had one."

"Girlfriend after girlfriend?" Sirius asked, raising his eyebrows. "When's the last time _you _had a girlfriend Moony?"

"Okay, I'm not going to pretend that didn't hurt," Remus said. "But you're in pain, so I'll let it go."

Sirius turned to James. "And what about you? Girlfriend after girlfriend? Yeah right, Lily's the first girlfriend you've ever had. Other than that, you were a player just like me."

"Okay, but-"

Sirius then turned to Peter. "And you've maybe had two girlfriends in your entire life, both of whom dumped you."

"Sirius, you can't-" James started.

"Sorry guys, but none of you are experts on the relationship advice," Sirius said and then he turned back to Remus. "And do _not _tell me what I want." And with that, Sirius stomped off.

"He's really upset over this whole thing, huh?" James said.

"He's in love," Remus said with a shrug. "What do you expect?"

"I am NOT in love!" Sirius called out over his shoulder.

Remus exchanged glances with his two other best friends. "Maybe next time we should talk about him _after _he's completely gone."

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_I promise i'll post the next chapter a lot sooner than 11 days later! review and tell me what you think!_


	19. Me is Wet, Stupid & Spoiled, & a Dispute

**_Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 19_**

_omg, i am sooooooooooooo sorry this is so late (two weeks after i updated last...so sorry!). I have been so freakin busy lately. i promise, i'll update faster than two weeks next time--i promise! thank you so much to everyone who reviewed my last chapter_

_disclaimer: i'm notJK Rowling. period. end of story. moving on..._

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"I'm confused," Sirius complained.

Lily looked up. "That's because you're reading your book upside down."

Sirius glanced at her. "Oh…was I supposed to be reading?"

Lily sighed and put her book down. "Do you have any idea what you're going to study after Hogwarts?" Lily asked.

"Of course," Sirius said.

"Besides girls," Lily noted.

"Then no," Sirius said.

Lily shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Maybe by the time you're out of here you'll learn how to read a book the right way."

"I doubt it," Sirius said. Sirius looked over at Lily's parchment. "Can I copy your homework?"

"Do it yourself," Lily said, not even bothering to look up.

"But I don't get it," Sirius said. "_Please?_"

"No," Lily confirmed.

Lily went back to reading her book and glanced up a few minutes later to see Sirius just staring into space. Lily sighed and closed her book. "Gigi on your mind?"

Sirius looked at her. "I sure hope you're not talking to me."

"Nooo," Lily said, rolling her eyes. "I'm talking to the invisible guy next to you."

"You're sitting here worried about me not being able to read yet _you're _seeing people who aren't real," Sirius noted.

Lily gave him a look. "You haven't done one bit of work in the past hour Si. You've been staring at nothing this entire time. What _else _would you be thinking about?"

"Pranks. Food. Quidditch," Sirius answered quickly.

"Gigi. Kissing. You avoiding her," Lily corrected.

"I am _not _thinking of Giliba nor am I avoiding her," Sirius said. "I am merely sit-oh crap, there she is. Hide me!"

Lily rolled her eyes and looked at Sirius. "Not avoiding her huh?"

Sirius smiled sheepishly. "Nope…we're just playing hide and seek."

"Sirius," Lily said simply, watching Gigi leave the room.

"Don't," Sirius said sharply.

"Sirius, you-"

"I said _don't_ Lily," Sirius said. "Don't talk to me all condescending and trying to be my friend and understand. There's nothing to understand. Giliba and I snogged by mistake and now she wants to forget me all together."

"And you don't want to forget her," Lily said calmly.

Sirius just looked at Lily but didn't say anything.

Lily smiled. "That's what I thought."

Sirius gave Lily a sad smile. "It doesn't matter. Hogwarts is over in a few months. All Giliba and I know is how to hate each other and that's all we're gonna know."

Lily sighed and handed her parchment to Sirius. "Here."

"Don't give me the homework just because you feel sorry for me," Sirius said.

Lily reached for it back. "Fine, I won't."

Sirius grabbed it back. "On the other hand…it's _really _hard to concentrate on homework with all this Giliba stuff on my mind."

Lily laughed and watched Sirius copy the homework. Lily took a deep breath and dared to ask, "How many girls have you had sex with?"

Sirius stared at her and Lily shrugged. "Oops sorry, was that too inappropriate to ask?"

"No…" Sirius said. "I'm just trying to remember."

Lily laughed and then groaned. "It's no wonder every girl at this school hates you."

"Seven," Sirius answered.

"And how many girls have you snogged?" Lily asked.

After several minutes of trying to figure it out, Sirius answered, "Twenty-one."

Lily shook her head. "I'm sorry I asked."

Sirius leaned in towards Lily and jokingly said, "We can make it twenty-two."

Lily just looked at him. "Why does James trust you so much?"

Sirius paused. "I'm not sure."

Sirius handed Lily back her homework. "Want to go for a walk?"

"No."

"Seriously, answer faster," Sirius muttered.

"I'm sorry, I should have put careful consideration into that answer," Lily said. "No _way_."

"Come on," Sirius begged. "Just a walk by the lake. It's getting warmer outside. The grass is getting green. The birds are chirping."

"In any moment you're gonna start reciting a poem," Lily said.

"If you don't come with me, I'll sing," Sirius said.

Lily gathered her stuff together. "Let's go."

Sirius started singing anyway, "The hills are alive…with the sound of music!"

"Let's go!" Lily cried out, grabbing his hand and pulling him with her.

* * *

"I'm all wet!" Sirius cried out. 

"I know," Lily said. "I pushed you in."

"I'm all wet!"

"You wouldn't stop singing!"

"I'm all wet!"

"You say that one more time and I'm pushing you in again," Lily said.

"Me is soaked!" Sirius rephrased.

"That's not even proper English," Lily noted.

Sirius paused. "I'm all wet!" Sirius repeated.

Lily groaned. "When James and I graduate, we're moving far _far_ away from you," Lily said. "And you're not invited to the wedding."

"Whoa, moving in together and getting married already?" Sirius asked.

Lily grinned. "If you and James aren't married first."

"I don't know Lils…we're inseparable," Sirius said. "Joining hands in holy matrimony only sounds natural."

Lily rolled her eyes and headed towards her room. Sirius shrugged and walked into the common room.

"What happened to you?" James asked, as Sirius walked in.

"I'm wet," Sirius announced.

"Yes, we can see that," Remus said. "_Why _are you wet?"

"Here's an important lesson: don't sing loudly in Lily's ear when there's a lake nearby," Sirius said.

"You were out with Lily this whole time?" James asked. Sirius nodded. "I've been trying to find her for an hour."

"Well first we were doing homework here," Sirius said.

"_You _doing _homework?_" Remus asked.

"Well…I was copying her homework."

"That sounds more like it," Peter said.

Sirius shrugged and continued with the story. "And then we went out by the lake."

"The lake?" James questioned. "Isn't that where you usually bring your _dates_?"

Sirius shrugged. "When I'm not bringing them up to my room."

"Hmpf," James sighed out.

Sirius looked curiously at James. "You okay?"

"I'm gonna go find Lily," James said, getting up from the couch.

"I wouldn't do that," Sirius said. "She has lots of work to do."

"So let me get this straight," James said. "She has lots of work to do, but she was able to take an hour break and hang out with _you_?"

"Okay, you sound angry," Sirius said.

James clenched his fists. "No, I'm not angry."

Sirius looked at him. "You have angry written all over you."

"I'm not angry!" James shouted.

"So you're just screaming to clear your throat?" Sirius asked.

"Shut up Padfoot," James snapped and then sauntered off.

Sirius turned to his other two friends. "Am I missing something?"

"It's the same something I'm missing," Peter noted.

"He's just jealous," Remus said with a shrug.

Sirius turned to Peter. "Apparently Remus isn't missing this something."

"Lily's very busy with getting all her work done for her classes and dealing with Head Girl stuff. She doesn't have much time for fun and today when she took a break, she hung out with _you_," Remus said.

"You make that sound like a bad thing," Sirius said.

"James just wished that when she has time, that she hangs out with _him_," Remus said.

Sirius looked at Remus. "How'd you get so smart?"

"It sure as hell didn't happen while hanging out with you guys," Remus teased.

* * *

"Hey Lily," James said, walking into their common room. 

"Hey," Lily said, not bothering from her book.

James came over and sat down next to Lily.

Lily just looked at him. "What?"

James looked at her strangely. "Can't a guy come sit next to his girlfriend?"

"I have lots of work to do," Lily said, looking back down at her book.

"How do you have more work than me? We're in practically all the same classes," James said.

Lily sighed. "Look, I don't have time to fool around right now."

"That's not what I wanted," James said. "I just wanted to come sit with you."

Lily didn't say anything because she was too busy reading.

After a few moments of silence James asked, "So what homework are you doing?"

"James," Lily warned, putting her book down on her lap and looking up at him with annoyance in her eyes. "We can hang out later okay? Right now, I have way too much work to do."

"But you have the time to hang out with Sirius?" James mumbled softly.

Lily finally looked up from her book. "What?"

James sighed. "Nothing, forget it." James got up and started to saunter off.

"That was only for an hour," Lily said.

"Yeah, an hour of which should have been spent doing all this work you supposedly have," James grunted.

"What's with you today?" Lily asked.

"Nothing," James said quietly, but then turned around angrily. "I just want to hang out with my girlfriend who says she's too busy doing work but then she's off somewhere with Sirius."

"Yeah, because I needed a _break_," Lily said.

"And how come you let him copy your homework? You never let _me_ do that," James said, changing the subject.

"But yet you do it anyway," Lily said.

James sighed, obviously a little annoyed. "Just forget it, I'm being stupid."

"I agree," Lily muttered.

For some reason, that comment made James mad. "Oh really? How would you like it if I was busy every minute of every day and when I have a break, I went to hang out with Nancie or something?"

"That's completely different!" Lily cried out. "Sirius and I never went out. And we never _ever _will. We're just _friends. _James, you're acting like I can't hang out with any of my other friends. You're acting like I have to spend all my free time with you. You're the one who said you're being stupid, not me."

"I just wish you'd understand where I'm coming from," James said grumpily.

"And _I _wish _you'd _understand where _I'm _coming from," Lily exclaimed. "I've worked hard to get where I am and I'll be damned if I'm going to slack off a few months before graduation."

"Hey, I've worked hard too!" James cried out. "Just because I don't have a _stick_ up my ass, doesn't mean I haven't worked hard! Just because I haven't sucked up to every damn professor in this school and read every stupid book in the library, doesn't mean I haven't worked hard!"

"Worked hard on what?" Lily asked. "On pranks? On getting random girls to have sex with you? On being the best Quidditch player?"

"Okay, now _you're _being stupid!" James shouted. "Unlike you who hasn't changed since first year and has only cared about grades and being the best in every subject, _I'm _a completely different person than I was in the past years at Hogwarts!"

"Why? Because you don't have your parents to bail you out anymore?"

"Ex_cuse _me?" James cried out, not liking where this conversation was going.

"Whenever you get in trouble, you're parents bailed you out, whether it's by giving you money or talking to the Headmaster. You haven't had to work hard at _anything _you're entire life. Just face it James, you're spoiled and always get everything you've ever wanted."

James just stood there in awe, trying hard not to look hurt. "I cannot believe you just said that." And with that, he walked out.

Lily sighed, instantly regretting every word she just said. She debated whether to go after him, but then she just turned back to her work, which she now couldn't concentrate on. She swore outloud, threw the book down on the couch and crossed her arms across her chest angrily.

* * *

"I am _not _spoiled!" James exclaimed, stomping into the commons room. 

Peter, Remus, and Sirius looked up at him with quizzical looks. "Care to explain?"

James plopped down on the couch with a groan. "Somehow talking about her hanging out with Sirius got to how I don't work hard and how my parents bailed me out whenever I get into trouble."

"Lily said that?"

"She called me stupid too," James said. "And something about sex with other girls and money."

"You pay other girls to have sex with you?" Sirius asked. James glared at him. "Hey, I'm just trying to figure out what went on."

"No, she said that the only thing I worked hard on was getting girls to have sex with me and that I don't have to work hard because my parents gave me all the money I needed and always got me out of trouble. That's not fucking true anymore because my parents are _dead_." James groaned and got up, starting to walk towards the boys room.

"Where are you going?" Sirius called out.

"I'm sleeping in your bed tonight," James said. "You can sleep in my room." And with that, James was gone.

"Does he know that it's only 4 in the afternoon?" Sirius questioned.

* * *

Lily jumped in and looked anxiously at the entrance when she heard the portrait hole open up. She sighed out when she saw that it was just Sirius. "Hi," she mumbled as he waved. 

"You've been in here for an awfully long time," Sirius said.

"What are you doing here?"

"Sleeping here."

Lily looked at him dumbfounded. "Why?"

"Oh you know," Sirius said with a shrug. "Don't feel like sleeping in my bed. It's uncomfortable." Lily gave him a look like she totally didn't believe him. "And I think I left some random girl in the bed and I don't remember her name and don't want to go back up to the room and get into an argument and convince her that just because I don't know her name doesn't mean I don't care about her…which is bullshit, because I really _don't _care about her."

"James is sleeping in your bed isn't he," Lily said with a sigh.

"Now that I think about it, the random girl's name _is _James," Sirius said sheepishly.

Lily sighed and put down her quill and parchment. "I was stupid."

"The story I heard was that you called _him _stupid," Sirius said, sitting down beside Lily.

"He called himself stupid first," Lily muttered and then sighed. "I truly was an idiot."

"So I hear," Sirius said. "You called him spoiled?"

"And talked about his parents as if they were still alive," Lily sighed out. "I'm a horrible person."

"I wouldn't say you're a horrible person," Sirius said. "A horrible girlfriend, yes. But not a horrible person." Lily glared at him. "I'm not helping am I?"

Lily shook her head. "But he just started yelling at me, accusing me of liking you or something, and then he just got so jealous or something, telling me to slack off on my work and hang out with him."

"He just wants to spend time with you," Sirius said with a shrug. "He gets jealous easily. Remember the date he ruined with Geoff?"

"Kinda hard to forget," Lily muttered. "I hate when he's jealous. There's no reason for him to be jealous. I'm not gonna cheat on him…_especially_ with you."

"Hey, hey. Let's not get too hasty," Sirius joked.

Lily gave him a look. "He should just trust me."

"He does."

"Well I wish he'd understand how stressful the end of seventh year is."

"He does."

"Then why was he acting like a prat?"

"Because he's James…and a Marauder…and it's what we do," Sirius said with a shrug.

"Gigi would back you up on that," Lily muttered as she gathered her stuff. "Well, I'm gonna go to bed."

Lily walked out and Sirius called out after her, "But it's only seven!"

* * *

"And so the snail turns to him and says hey! give me back my shell," Sirius said with a laugh. Sirius looked at Lily who didn't have a reaction. "…give me back my shell!" Sirius repeated but Lily still didn't make a move. Sirius sighed and put down his bacon. "Okay, I'm using my funniest lines on you and you're not even acting like I'm funny." 

Lily looked up. "Huh?" Obviously she hadn't been paying attention. She just couldn't stop replaying the entire argument James and she had over and over again in her head. Why did James get so jealous and defensive? Why did she say those things? And why is it that not only the work at the end of the year is hard, but her relationship is getting harder?

Sirius sighed. "Okay, first you make me get up at 6:30 in the morning to help you clean up the common room…which _isn't _mine by the way. And then you make us come to breakfast way early when they don't even have the good foods out yet. And _now _you're not listening to my jokes."

Lily sighed and snapped out of it. "I'm sorry. Just trying to keep busy," Lily said with a shrug.

"So you don't think about James?" Sirius asked.

Lily just gave him a look.

Sirius stuck some eggs in his mouth and turned towards Lily. "I'm doing the same thing."

"Avoiding James?" Lily teased.

Sirius shook his head. "Keeping busy so I don't think about Giliba."

"And how she yelled and humiliated you in front of us," Lily said.

Sirius glared at her. "Yes, that's ex_actly _what I'm trying to forget."

"Well better keep _real _busy right now…because here she comes," Lily said, eyeing the entrance of the Great Hall.

Sirius turned to see if it truly was her and groaned. He shoveled some toast into his mouth and got up. "And that's my cue to leave."

Sirius and Gigi didn't even look at each other as they passed each other, and Gigi (and Kacie) sat down across from Lily. "How long have you been here?"

Lily shrugged. "Half an hour?"

"Why were you here so early?" Kacie asked.

"I've been up since six…this isn't early," Lily said.

Kacie spat out her water. "_Six? _There's one of those in the _morning?_"

Lily laughed and cleaned up the water. "I've been really busy recently. There aren't enough hours in the day to do everything I have to do."

Gigi took some toast and said, "We're all in the same year, and pretty much the same classes, how can you have more work than us?"

Lily banged down her fork onto the table. "I'm _tired _of people saying that to me! After Hogwarts, I want to get into a University, and I have a lot of Head Girl stuff going on, and the pressure of graduation is _killing _me!"

Kacie and Gigi stopped mid-bite and just stared at Lily. Gigi gulped, afraid to say anything. "Um…I think you need a break."

Lily sighed and put her head down on the table. "Sorry guys," she mumbled. "I'm just really stressed."

"I think another night where you get totally wasted is what you need," Gigi offered and Kacie laughed.

"Well here comes James, maybe he'll make you happier and less stressed," Kacie said.

Lily's head shot up from the table. "What?" She saw James walk in and got up in a hurry.

"Where are you going?"

"I have lots of work remember?" Lily said, and jetted out of the Great Hall.

Gigi and Kacie exchanged baffling looks and shrugged as they watched the boys walking towards them. "Well hello boys."

Remus and Peter said hello back while James just plopped down and stared at his plate.

"What's wrong with him?" Kacie asked, pointing to James.

"He went to bed really late," Remus lied with a shrug.

"Sirius told me he went to bed at four in the afternoon," Kacie said.

"Did I say late? I meant early," Remus said sheepishly.

Gigi put down her fork and looked at James. "What's wrong with you?"

"Girls suck," James muttered.

"You _do _know you're talking to two girls, right?" Kacie noted.

"He and Lily had a little dispute," Remus said with a shrug.

"It was more than a little dispute," Peter noted.

"Well…I guess it could be called an argument," Remus said, shrugging again.

"Also known as a _fight_," Peter said.

"Okay, can we stop debating how big the disagreement was," Gigi said.

"Yeah, let's get to _what _the disagreement was," Kacie said.

"It wasn't much of a disagreement. They both agreed that James was stupid," Peter noted.

"She shouldn't have agreed with me," James mumbled.

"Were they fighting about how you guys suck at telling stories?" Gigi asked.

Remus sighed. "James was annoyed that Lily spent her free time with Sirius, and then that got to how Lily is always busy and works hard, unlike James who slacks off and got his parents to bail him out whenever necessary."

"Lily said that?" Kacie asked, obviously surprised.

"She told me I was spoiled and she talked about my parents as if they were alive," James said. "It may not show, but I've worked _hard _to get where I am today. Who cares if I spend my free time getting better at Quidditch? Or playing pranks on Slytherins? Or going to random bars to get drunk?"

"Well obviously Lily cares," Peter said with a shrug.

"Well she knew what I was like when she started dating me," James mumbled.

"I'm sure Lily didn't mean anything she said to you. She was probably just stressed or angry or something," Gigi offered.

"Then why hasn't she tried to talk to me since last night? Why hasn't she tried to apologize?" James asked.

"She's nervous. She doesn't know what to say," Kacie said.

"And I'm guessing you have things to apologize for also and _you're _not attempting to talk to her," Gigi said. James just looked down at his empty plate. "Exactly," she confirmed.

"Forget this," James said, standing up from the table and turning to the guys. "Let's go."

Remus and Peter looked at the food longingly. "Um…"

"Well?" James demanded. "Are you coming?"

"Are you mad at me for pointing out the obvious?" Gigi asked.

"I'm not mad," James said with a shrug. "I just don't want to talk about Lily. I don't want to hang out with girls at all right now."

"Because we have cooties?" Gigi joked.

"No because all girls do is nag and annoy guys and act all innocent and sweet but really they're getting ready to pounce on you the first chance they have," James said.

"Tell us how you _really _feel," Gigi said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

James rolled his eyes also and left the Great Hall. Remus turned to the girls. "Obviously this whole Lily thing is getting to him."

"How'd you figure _that _out?" Kacie said sarcastically. Remus laughed and followed Peter out of the Great Hall to find James.

* * *

"Stop complaining about being hungry," Sirius said, plopping down on the blanket. "Here's the snacks." 

"We didn't get to eat breakfast!" Remus exclaimed, digging into some cookies.

"So why are we down here?" Sirius asked. "Isn't this a date type thing? Which two of us are dating?"

James rolled his eyes. "I'm getting tired of being cooped up in Hogwarts and it's finally a nice warm day, so I thought coming out here under this tree would be nice."

Sirius paused. "No really…who's dating who?"

"We're just here to get away from Hogwarts and work," James exclaimed.

"And this way you can avoid Lily at all costs," Sirius muttered. James glared at him. "Oh right, the one rule of the day was _not _to mention her."

James shrugged and bit into a cookie. "I don't care if you talk about her. But _I _don't wanna talk about her."

"I just don't get it," Remus said. "It's not like she cheated on you. You guys should be able to talk and get through this little fight."

"She hurt me," James said. "That's the bottom line. She called me spoiled and told me my parents always got me out of trouble. My girlfriend shouldn't be saying things like that…that's something _Snape _would say."

Sirius nodded. "You've got a point there."

"Well whatever," Remus said. "Let's talk about something else…like Sirius's love life."

It grew really quiet and no one said anything for a few seconds. "…and that's what my love life is like," Sirius responded.

"Still hung up on Gigi?" Peter asked.

"Why is it that whenever we get together all we talk about is girls?" Sirius wondered.

"Because you guys don't study, you don't do work, you don't pay attention to the professors, and you don't even know the names of the classes you're taking," Remus said.

"Girls is pretty much all you two are about," Peter said.

"Hey hey. Now that's not true," Sirius said. "You forgot about how we love to get drunk."

Remus rolled his eyes but didn't respond.

"Oh c'mon," James interjected. "We are four intelligent people who should be able to have a conversation that doesn't revolve around sex and alcohol." James glanced around. "Or at least we are four _people."_

"So how about those current events?" Remus joked.

"Let's play a prank," Sirius offered.

"And enough about the current events," Remus mumbled.

"Yeah, we haven't played a prank in awhile," James said. Sirius and James turned to Remus.

"And I'm guessing once again you want me to figure out the details," Remus said.

"Only you get the whole be quiet, not get caught thing," Sirius said.

"Well, what are we going to do?"

"Prank on the Slytherins," Sirius and James answered at the same time.

"Right, because who _else _would we humiliate?" Remus muttered, reaching for parchment. As Remus was writing he looked up and asked, "So did you guys hear what happened with You-Know-Who at the Kilitiny pub?"

"Yeah, he went on a barrage, eradicating ancestors of the Squiratal cult," James said.

"That's awful!" Sirius exclaimed. "Wait…am I supposed to know what you just said?"

James laughed. "Let's get back to talking about something Sirius understands."

"Which would definitely _not _be girls," Remus said with a laugh.

* * *

James walked into his room, knowing that Lily was at the library, and stopped when he saw who was sitting on his bed. He froze in place at first and then coughed a little to find his voice. "Hi." 

"Hi."

James waited for her to say something more and when that didn't happen he sighed, placed his books on his bed, and looked up with a curious look. "What are you doing here Nancie?"

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

_ooooh cliffhanger! what is Nancie doing in James's room? guess you'll have to review to find out! _


	20. Sleep Can Wait, Great Rack, and Goofball

**_Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 20_**

_well i promised i'dupdate earlier than two weeks... altho not like 10 days is much better. i'm so sorry! i've just been soooo busy!_

_thanks so much to everyone who reviewed, i appreciate it!_

_disclaimer: you've got the gist by now._

(if you recal from last chapter, James walked into his room to find Nancie standing there)

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Nancie got up from the bed. "I heard about your parents."

James stared at her. "That happened two months ago," James said.

Nancie pointed to a box in the corner. "I brought some of your stuff back."

"Again…it's been two months," James said. "Actually it's been more like _three_ months."

Nancie looked down at the ground. "I hear you're dating Lily."

James pursed his lips together but didn't say anything.

"So yeah, I heard about your parents," Nancie restated.

"You said that," James said.

Nancie looked down at her feet. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. As you know, my parents died when I was three years old."

"They did?" James questioned.

Nancie just sighed. "Yeah…I told you that before."

"Oh yeah, I remember," James lied.

"When I heard about your parents, it just got me thinking about you and so I figured you'd want your stuff back," Nancie said with a shrug.

"Thanks," James said with a gulp. He looked at Nancie who wasn't making an effort to leave. "Is that it?"

Nancie took a deep breath and took a step closer to James. "Okay look," Nancie said calmly. "I know we were never really dating, and it was just a casual sex thing but for some reason or another, I can't stop thinking about you."

"Oh," was all James could think of to say.

"But you're with Lily," Nancie asked, sort of forming it as a question.

James swallowed the lump in his throat. "Yeah." James went down and sat on his bed with a huge sigh.

"Are you okay?" Nancie asked.

"I'm a screw up," James said, running his hands through his hair. "Yes I'm dating Lily…except we're not talking right now."

Nancie tried hard not to smile at that and sat next to James on his bed. "Why not?"

James paused, trying to think of a good answer but then he realized there was no good answer. All he had to do was talk to Lily and things would be okay, and it's taken him a day to realize it. "Because I'm a dolt," James muttered with a sigh.

"Care to explain?" Nancie asked.

James sighed. "I just don't get us sometimes. I don't understand why she's with me. How can I be good enough for her? I just don't get what she sees in me."

Nancie leaned over and gave James a small kiss on the cheek. "I do," she murmured and then darted out of the room, not noticing when she left the portrait hole that Lily was walking towards it through the other hallway.

Lily just stood there in awe, not at all sure what to do. But after she regained feeling in her legs, she turned around and walked back down the hallway.

* * *

"Do you guys know where Lily is?" Gigi asked, walking into the commons room to see Remus and Peter. 

They looked up and shrugged. "Haven't seen her all day."

"Oh hey Kace!" Gigi exclaimed as Kacie walked down from the room. "Is Lily up there?"

Kacie shook her head. "No…isn't she in _her _room?"

"No. Last time I saw her, she was in the library. And that was about eight hours ago," Gigi said.

"Now that I think about it, Lily never came down to dinner," Remus noted.

"And she hasn't been in the library for awhile…I was just there," Peter said.

"Well, where's Sirius? Is she with him?"

"No, Sirius just went down to the kitchens for us," Remus said.

"Well, what about James? Is she with him?" Gigi asked.

"They're still fighting," Peter said. "And James was just here."

"Where could she be?" Gigi asked, plopping down on the couch.

"Probably someplace quiet where she can get lots of work done," Peter said. "Where would you find a place like that?"

"It's called the _library_," Kacie joked.

"She usually likes to study outside," Gigi said. "But since the sun went down, it's gotten really chilly."

"And dark," Peter added.

"Forgot my book," James said, entering the room and grabbing his book. He looked up to see four pairs of eyes staring at him. "What?"

"You and Lily make up?" Gigi asked.

"Okay, _please _get off my case about that," James said, "I realize I provoked her and that's why she said those things to me."

"What made you change your mind about the whole thing?" Remus asked.

James paused. "Nancie."

All four friends looked at him strangely. "Ex_cuse _me?" Gigi finally asked.

"Just forget it," James said with a tiny smile. "When Lily comes back to our commons room, I'll talk to her, okay?"

"So she hasn't come back all day?" Kacie asked.

James shook his head. "Not yet." And with that, James was gone.

"How many Nancie's do we know?" Gigi asked when James was gone.

Sirius walked in just then. "Hey Si? How many Nancie's do we know?" Kacie asked.

"I know three of them," Sirius said instantly.

"And how many have you had sex with?" Kacie teased.

"I don't see why that's relevant to the subject matter," Sirius said, placing the snacks down on a table.

"You don't even know what the subject matter _is_," Remus said.

"So, did you see Lily down at the kitchens?" Kacie asked.

"No," Sirius said.

"Okay, I'm leaving," Gigi said, not daring to look at Sirius.

"Why?" Remus asked.

"Lily's around here somewhere and I'm gonna find her," Gigi said as she exited the room.

"Plus it's a convenient excuse as to why she's leaving right as Sirius walks in," Peter muttered.

* * *

James bounced up from the couch when he heard footsteps enter the commons room. He looked at the clock which read 3:00 am. James rubbed his eyes as Lily entered the room. 

"I've been waiting for you all day," James said. "Where have you been?"

Lily didn't say anything but just kept walking, right past him.

"You had me really worried," James said.

Lily still didn't say anything.

"Lily?" James asked. "No one knew where you were…"

Lily rolled her eyes, didn't bother looking at him, andcontinued to not sayanything.

"Okay, I don't see why you won't talk to me," James said. "Technically I should be the one that's angry. Remember? _You _were the one called me spoiled."

Lily turned around violently to look at James. "Yes, but I'm not the one spending afternoon's with _Nancie _in my bedroom." And with that, Lily slammed her door shut.

James hung his head and sighed. He trudged over to her door, but discovered it was locked. He was about to knock, but he took a step away from the door and ran his hands through his hair nervously. He grabbed his invisibility cloak and darted out of the room.

* * *

James kept banging on the door yelling, "Wake up! Sirius! Remus! Peter! Hello!" 

Finally, after a minute or two, Remus practically sleep-walked to the door and opened it up. "What the hell?"

"Is he aware of the time?" Sirius groaned, pulling his pillow over his head.

James barged in aggravated. "So when Remus is a werewolf, we're all very content to help him out no matter what. But when all I need is a simple door open, you guys take hundreds of hours to open it!"

"Okay, who's going to point out that he was only standing out there for a minute?" Sirius moaned.

"What's up?" Remus asked, sitting up in his bed. "What brings you here at this ungodly hour?"

"And can it wait til the morning? I want to _sleep!_" Sirius cried out.

"Nancie was in my bedroom this afternoon," James said.

"Sleep can wait," Sirius said, practically shooting out of bed. "_What?_"

"Okay, I was going to pretend I was asleep but _what the hell?_" Peter asked, sitting up quickly.

"She was in there when I got back today," James said. "Just sitting on my bed."

"What was she wearing?" Sirius asked.

"Why the hell is that relevant?" James asked.

"Well if the answer is she wasn't wearing anything, it's _very _relevant," Sirius said.

"She was fully clothed," James said in disgust. "She came to say she was sorry about my parents. And that she still liked me or something…I don't even remember."

"Whoa," Remus muttered.

"I still don't see why you had to wake us up to tell us this," Peter said.

James took a deep breath. "Apparently Lily saw her in my room. Or heard about it. Or something."

"Okay…" Remus said.

"Well?" James asked.

The three boys stared at him. "Did you _really _wake us up to tell us that awful story?" Remus asked.

"Yeah, you could have at least added a part about bears eating somebody or flying monkeys attacking you," Sirius said. James just stared at him. "Hey, it's 3 in the morning! I'm still in dream mode."

"I don't know what to do," James said, sitting in Remus's desk chair. "I don't know what to say. I don't know how to act."

"To Nancie? Or to Lily?" Peter asked.

"I don't care about Nancie," James said. "What do I say to _Lily?_"

"Did you and Nancie do anything?" Remus asked.

"Of course not."

"Then telling Lily _that _would be a good start."

"Will she believe me?" James asked.

"Hell no," all three boys answered in unison.

"Thanks for the good advice guys," James said sarcastically.

"Ooooh, _guilt _her into believing it! I mean, you're still upset about the whole you're spoiled thing…use that against her. I mean, she can't possibly feel okay about saying that," Sirius said.

"_Or_ I could hold a knife to her throat and _make _her forgive me," James said sarcastically.

"Oooh, that's a good idea!" Sirius exclaimed.

James stared at him. "I was _kidding _Sirius. I'm not gonna use anything against her nor am I going to force her to forgive me."

"Really? Why not?"

"Remind me to apologize to whatever girl you end up dating," James said, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. James started getting up to go back to his room and then looked at his three best friends. "Can I stay here tonight?"

"Sure," Sirius said. "I hear the floor is really comfortable."

James groaned. "Never mind…I should go talk to Lily anyway."

James started to leave the room until Sirius called out after him. "A word of advice…don't wake her up now. She'll be even madder."

"How do you know?" James asked.

"Experience," Sirius said, glaring at James. James gave a sheepish grin and walked out.

* * *

"Wake up!" Lily exclaimed, barging into Gigi and Kacie's room early the next morning. 

"We have alarms Lily," Gigi said, pulling her pillow over her ears. "We don't need _you _to wake us up."

"What time is it?" Kacie groaned and then paused. "What _day _is it?"

"It's Saturday," Lily said. "And it's 6 in the morning."

"_SIX?_" Kacie exclaimed. "I don't even get up that early when we have _classes_."

"Didn't you go to bed really late last night?" Gigi moaned. "How can you be functioning right now?"

Kacie gasped. "Did you have _coffee? _And didn't get _us _any?"

"I didn't have coffee. I just couldn't sleep," Lily said, sitting down on Gigi's bed. "And I wanted to hang out and talk with my two best friends."

"I can't wait til you make up with James," Kacie grunted.

Lily looked down at her hands. "Not gonna happen," Lily muttered.

Kacie and Gigi exchanged glances and sat up in their beds. "Why not?" Gigi asked.

"Ugh, can we have this conversation later?" Kacie groaned. "Like when I'm _awake_."

Gigi ignored her. "Lily, if you recall…_you _were the one to say horrible things to him. I mean, _yes_, he said things to you also, but-" Gigi started.

"I walked into the common room yesterday afternoon to see Nancie walk out of James's room," Lily said.

"I'm awake," Kacie said, shooting out of bed.

"Maybe they were just talking," Gigi suggested.

"Since when have Nancie and James _ever _talked in that bedroom?" Lily asked.

"Oh c'mon Lily," Gigi urged. "James would never cheat on you. How do you know Nancie didn't just walk in by herself? She knows the password. I'm sure James didn't invite her in."

"He is so over half dating bimbos who mean nothing to him," Kacie said. "He wouldn't screw up what you two have."

Lily shrugged. "Fine, but she was in his room wasn't she? And he didn't tell me about her."

"When was he supposed to tell you?" Gigi asked. "When you were yelling at him? Or when you were completely avoiding him?"

"And he had the nerve to tell me that I had no reason to be mad at him for the things he said to me. He said that if anyone was angry, it should be him," Lily said. "And then he goes and has Nancie in his room. What the hell?"

"He told us today that he was going to make up with you today. Doesn't that mean something?" Gigi asked.

"Yeah," Lily said. "It means he's tried of not having someone to snog with."

"You know that's not true," Kacie said.

"Whatever," Lily said. "I don't wanna talk about this anymore."

* * *

"You_ are_ an ass," Remus muttered, confirming Sasha's words. 

"Oh come on! There was no need for her to call me that," Sirius cried out. "I wasn't _that _bad."

"Hey Peter!" Remus called out, waving him over. "If you were a girl and a guy went up to you and told you that you had a great rack, what would you do?"

"Slap him and call him an ass," Peter said. Remus smirked up at Sirius.

"Yes, yes. I see what you're saying," Sirius said slowly, thinking about it. "But I'm gonna get a second opinion."

"Second opinion?" Remus questioned. "It would be a _fourth_ opinion."

Sirius smiled as he saw Kacie walk in. "Hey Kace!" Sirius cried out. Kacie walked over to them.

"Hey guys," she said.

"You have a great rack," Sirius said.

Kacie looked at him disgustedly. "You're an ass."

"Hmm…that seems to be the main consensus around here," Sirius said as Remus and Peter were practically rolling on the floor laughing.

"And if you're gonna hit on anyone," Kacie said. "Try hitting on Gigi. _She's _the one you want."

"You guys are never gonna let that go huh?" Sirius muttered.

"Nope," Kacie said with a grin.

"Well what about you? _You're _madly in love with Remus," Sirius said.

"What?" Remus asked, looking up from his book.

"_What?_" Kacie questioned, this obviously being the first time she's heard this.

"Oh, you didn't know that Remus?" Sirius asked.

"No, I didn't," Remus said. "Mainly because Iknow you made it up."

Sirius pouted. "How come no one takes me seriously?"

"Because you play a prank a day, don't do homework, and think girls are like toys," Kacie said.

"I don't think girls are like toys," Sirius said. "I get bored with toys easily…but I will _never _get bored of girls."

"The day you're bored of girls is the day you actually do your homework," Remus muttered.

"Speaking of toys," Sirius said. "Who wants to play twister?"

Kacie looked at the other two. "Please tell me he's kidding."

"You'd think that…" Remus said.

"I don't know what was going through your mother's head when she called you Sirius," Kacie said. "Was Goofball taken by another family member?"

Just then, James walked into the room. "Hey James," the group greeted.

"What would you say to me if you were a girl and I told you that you had a great rack?" Sirius asked.

"I'd say, thanks so much, wanna go make out in the closest broom closet?" James said with a grin.

Remus, Peter, and Kacie all said, "You're an ass."

"I _knew_ I should have asked you first," Sirius said to James, giving him a high five.

"Now, can we _please _get back to work?" Remus asked, reopening his book.

"Yeah, yeah," Sirius said with a groan as Peter, Kacie, and James all took out their books.

A few minutes passed and Sirius turned to the others. "I'm bored…who wants cake?"

"We're studying," Remus muttered, not even bothering to look up.

"Cake now, study later," Sirius insisted.

"This test is a huge part of our grade Si," James noted.

"I want cake!" Sirius cried out.

"How old are we? _Four?_" Peter asked.

"If you shut up and let us study right now, I'll get cake with you this weekend. Cake, ice cream, cookies, and anything else that will leave you sick all weekend," Kacie said.

Sirius pouted. "Fine…but pie better be included."

"Of course," Kacie said, going back to her work.

Several seconds passed before Sirius spoke up. "So...what about the cake I want now?"

Four quills were violently thrown at him. "I'll take that as a no," Sirius muttered.

* * *

James took a deep breath and walked into the classroom where the prefect meeting was to be held in twenty minutes. Lily heard him walk in behind her but didn't look up. In fact, she didn't even acknowledge his existence. James sighed and gathered his parchment and quills and sat in the opposite corner preparing for the meeting. He kept looking up at Lily, but she refused to turn around. 

After several minutes James couldn't take it anymore. He looked up, staring straight at Lily's back, and said, "I love you."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

_ooooooh, what's Lily gonna say next? how's James gonna react? are they gonna make up or continue to avoid each other?_

_review to find out!_


	21. Charisma, Not Caring, Satan and Santa

**_Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 21_**

_wow, 21 chapters and still SO much more to go! sorry my updates aren't as soon as they used to be. i was home this past weekened and i only have a week and a half left of classes and then finals week (eek) so i've been busy finishing up work and preparing for exams. i hope you can forgive me._

_sorry for the cliffhanger last chapter (i know, i'm so evil!), but thanks to all of you who reviewed...i really appreciate it!_

_Disclaimer: In no way ami J.K. Rowling (no matter how much i wish i was)._

_Now, on to the story... if you don't remember, this is where it left off:_

After several minutes James couldn't take it anymore. He looked up, staring straight at Lily's back and said, "I love you."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Lily stopped writing immediately and slowly and cautiously turned to face him. After a few seconds of looking him over to see his sincerity, she opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by a few of the prefects walking in.

"Hey guys," the prefects said to Lily and James.

Lily and James refused to lose eye contact and just muttered a quick hello while still staring at each other.

* * *

"Okay, so far all you guys have told us is that pranks are against the rules," a prefect, Freddie, said. "And last time I checked…we already knew that." 

"Yeah, and last time I checked," another prefect, Mikey, chimed in. "James was the king of pranks."

"Uh huh," Lily muttered, obviously distracted.

"So, let me get this straight," a third prefect, Margot, said. "You called us here to warn us about pranks?"

"No, we have an agenda," Lily said.

"We've been here for almost forty minutes," Freddie said. "Is that agenda going to bediscussed anytime soon?"

"Why? The last time I checked, you didn't have a life to get back to," James snapped.

Freddie opened his mouth to retort but then shut it, "Yeah, that's true."

"Didn't your girlfriend just break up with you?" Margot asked Freddie.

"So how 'bout that agenda?" Freddie joked.

"Okay, so maybe Freddie doesn't have a life to get back to, but James, don't _you _have a life that you want to get back to?" a prefect, Isabella, asked.

"Well not anymore now that he's learned that pranks aren't allowed," Mikey said and all the prefects laughed.

"Fine. This is pointless!" Lily said, throwing her hands up in the air. "Forget the agenda! Forget this stupid useless meeting! Go have lives! I don't give a damn anymore, see if I care."

It grew really quiet as people tried to interpret her reaction. "Is this a trick?" Mikey whispered.

"This is bringing out a _lovely _side of her," Freddie responded.

"She should be mad at James more often; then maybe we'd get out of these meetings before the night was over," Mikey whispered back.

"So…does this still mean we can't play pranks?" Isabella asked.

"Quick, let's go play a prank now. Maybe she won't notice anything," Freddie said, quickly gathering his things and exiting.

Lily groaned as they all left. "They don't take their jobs seriously anymore," Lily groaned to no one in particular.

"This coming from the girl who just told them all to forget the pointless agenda and the stupid useless meeting," James mumbled with a hint of a smile.

Lily turned to him. "I didn't realize you wanted me to kick your ass tonight."

"Um…I don't," James said carefully.

"Then shut up."

"Will do."

It grew quiet mainly because a million things were racing through Lily's head. Did he mean what he said? Or did he just want to get out of a fight? Does he said he loves every bimbo that walks into his life? Or is she special?

Lily sighed to herself andlooked up at James and asked, "Did you mean what you said before?"

James looked over at her. "That I didn't want you to kick my ass tonight? Yeah, I did mean it."

Lily gave him a look. "You know that's not what I meant."

James put his stuff down and walked over to Lily. "Yes I meant it."

Lily smiled and looked into James's eyes. "I love you too." James leaned in to kiss her but she interrupted him, "I just don't love when you have Nancie in your room." James opened his mouth to retort- "And I don't love when you get mad that I hang out with Sirius, or any of my friends." James tried once again to talk. "And I don't love that you-"

"Lily!" James exclaimed and Lily closed her mouth and looked at him. "Are you done yet?" Lily shrugged and nodded. "I don't care about Nancie…nor have I _ever _cared for her the way I care for you."

Lily smiled. "I know." James smiled back at her and gave her a kiss.

"Damn, we always walk in at the worst times," Remus said, entering the classroom.

"You mean the _best _times," Sirius said with a smirk.

Lily and James broke apart, rolling their eyes. "Don't you have anything better to do that doesn't involve stalking us?"

"Yes," Sirius said. "But Melanie wasn't available tonight."

"Translated as he was too lazy to get out his blow up doll and so he jumped up and down on my bed until I put my books away to help him find you two," Remus said, rolling his eyes.

"I was concerned!" Sirius exclaimed. "I was afraid that you guys were going to be killing each other. I was only looking out for you two."

"You told me you wanted to go find them so we could all get cake together," Remus said.

"The cake is to celebrate them _not _killing each other," Sirius said. "And you promised me cake this weekend and I got nothing!You _owe _me!"

"How come you can't remember the answers to tests, or the times of classes, but you can remember us promising you cake," James asked.

"I choose to only remember the important stuff," Sirius said. "But let's get back to you two."

"There's nothing to tell," Lily said.

"You were kissing," Sirius said.

"Thanks for the clarification," James said. "Otherwise I would have been utterly confused as to what we were doing."

"You haven't kissed for a few days now," Sirius said.

"Not each other, no," Lily said jokingly.

"You were in a fight," Sirius said. "And now you're not?"

"Yup," James said.

Sirius sat down. "My head hurts."

"That's because for once, you're trying to use your brain," Remus said. "You know it hurts when you do that."

Sirius jumped up from the seat. "I want cake."

"Why do we put up with you?" James asked with a groan.

"Because I'm so damn cute, you can't resist me," Sirius said with a grin.

"No…" Remus said slowly. "That's not it."

"Because I'm so entertaining?" Sirius suggested.

"No…" James said.

"Because when you hang out with Sirius, you appear ten times smarter," Lily said with a smirk.

"Yeah, that's it," Remus and James answered.

Sirius pouted. "I'm not gonna pretend that didn't hurt," Sirius said. "…but I'll forgive you if you get me some damn cake!"

All four of them laughed as they exited the room. Lily glanced over at James and smiled, intertwining her fingers with his. She smiled to herself, so happy that Nancie hadn't ruined what they had; so happy that she was now talking with James and not avoiding him and/or yelling at him; so happy that she was in love.

* * *

"So Melanie turned me down," Sirius said, entering his room and plopping down on the bed. "And before you get all judgmental on me, I _know _that happens often. I know people get rejected all the time. I heard a girl crying about it in the library this morning." 

"Whoa, let me get this straight," Remus said, looking up from his homework. "You were in a library?"

"Hey! I happen to love the library," Sirius said. Remus gave him a look. "…I followed Melanie in there."

"Of course," James said.

Sirius looked over at Peter's desk where James was sitting. "Why the hell are you here?"

James looked up. "Is it me, or has 'hello' gone out of style recently?"

"Don't you have your own commons room, and your own room, and a girlfriend to hang out with?" Sirius asked and then groaned. "How come your life is so perfect?"

"Because I'm not in love with a girl who hates my guts," James said. James ducked as a pillow was thrown at him.

"Unlike you, James has learned to study, be courteous, and not use girls as sex objects," Peter noted.

Remus glanced over at james. "Well, he's learned to study at least," he joked.

"No he hasn't," Sirius insisted.

"What do you call what he's doing right now?" Peter asked.

Sirius glanced over at James reading a book and writing notes down on parchment. "Oooh, so _that's _what studying looks like."

"It amazes me that you made it past the first week of Hogwarts," Remus teased.

Sirius rolled his parchment in a ball and threw it up in the air to catch it. "Once we get out of this place, I'm getting new friends."

"Imaginary ones don't count," Remus said, catching the piece of parchment Sirius threw at him.

Sirius rolled onto his side and glanced over at James. "How do you do it?"

James looked up from his book. "How do I do homework?"

"No," Sirius said rolling his eyes. "I know how to do homework."

"Copying James is _not _doing homework," Remus said.

Sirius paused. "Oh...well whatever, learning how to do homework is pointless at this time in my life."

"Yeah, almost as pointless as good grades," Peter joked.

Sirius looked back over at James. "How do you commit to one girl? How do you juggle classes, studying for NEWT's, and being Head Boy? How do you constantly play pranks and act all high and mighty but yet, make professor's still love you?"

"It's called charisma," James said.

"Can I buy this so called 'charisma?'" Sirius asked.

James laughed. "You'll get it right eventually Si. We're still teenagers right now. We're supposed to have fun. You'll learn all that stuff when it comes time."

"So I won't end up alone, miserable, and living on the streets?"

"Of course not," James said. "…you'll end up alone, miserable, and with me."

Sirius laughed. "Thanks mate."

"Why do you ask?" Remus wondered. "Are you finally realizing that sleeping with girls every night, not doing work, and playing pranks is not what life is all about?"

Sirius gasped. "Life is _definitely _all about sex with girls every night!"

"No its not."

"Yes it is!"

"No it's not."

Sirius pouted. "No it's not."

Remus turned to Peter and James. "It's taken seven years, but he _finally _listens to me."

Sirius smiled in Remus's direction and got to thinking about Remus's comment. Sirius bit his lip and got up from his bed. "I'll be back."

"Where's he going?" Remus asked as Sirius left the room.

Peter shrugged. "Probably getting cake."

* * *

Sirius surveyed the commons room until his eyes fell upon a certain brown haired, blue eyed girl. He walked over and sat Indian Style on a couch right beside her. 

She looked up. "What do you want Black?"

"Hi."

Gigi sighed. "I'm busy Black. There's nothing you can say that will make me stop studying and close this book. I have-"

"I'm sorry."

Gigi closed her book. "Book's closed...go on."

Sirius took a deep breath. "Life isn't just about sex with random girls each night."

"Not for me, no," Gigi said.

Sirius just looked into her crystal blue eyes and couldn't believe that he had been avoiding this gorgeous girl for so long. He leaned in a little closer so she had his attention. "When you find that one person you care for, you shouldn't let them go. You shouldn't avoid them. You should hold on to them tight," Sirius said sincerely. "I didn't do that."

"Oh what? You let Shelby, Melanie, Gabrielle, Tanya, Sasha, etc go too easily?" Gigi asked, reopening her book. "Afraid you let your soul mate go after your one night stand with her?"

"Giliba-" Sirius started.

"This is stupid Black," Gigi said.

"Can't you let me explain?"

"No," Gigi said tiredly. She looked up at him with a sigh. "I'm tired of excuses."

"They aren't excuses Giliba," Sirius said. "None of those girls mean anything to me-"

"And yet you _still _date them," Gigi said.

"Yeah, but-"

"I have to go," Gigi said, gathering her books.

"Giliba-" Sirius repeated.

Gigi took a deep breath and looked up at him. "My boyfriend is waiting for me."

"You…you have a boyfriend?" Sirius asked warily.

Gigi nodded. "And he treats me the way I deserve to be treated."

"Oh so he takes you straight to bed every night?" Sirius sneered, annoyed at himself that he was too late.

Giliba got up, hitting Sirius with her books. "I hope you rot in hell."

Sirius sighed, angry with himself for saying that. "Giliba, wait!"

Giliba whipped around. "What is your _problem _Black? What's with this soul mate and I'm sorry crap? Stop acting like a sensitive guy when you and I both know you're just an asshole underneath."

Sirius sighed and ran his hands through his hair angrily as he watched Gigi and her crystal blue eyeswalk away.

* * *

Sirius walked in and slammed the door. "I'm your friend right?" Sirius said loudly, throwing a crumpled piece of parchment violently in the direction of the three boys. 

Peter, James, and Remus looked up. "Not if you keep throwing things at us," Remus answered.

"When Giliba got a boyfriend, why didn't you tell me?" Sirius asked.

The boys exchanged worried glances. "We didn't think you'd care."

"I don't!" Sirius cried out.

"So…you're pacing the floor angrily for no reason?" Peter asked cautiously.

Sirius sighed and put his hands on his hips but kept pacing."I don't care."

"So…you're sighing angrily, slamming doors, and throwing things for no reason?" Remus asked.

"I don't care," Sirius repeated sternly.

"You have 'I care' written all over your face," James noted.

Sirius stopped pacing and faced his friends. "I don't care," he said softly and very unconvincingly.

"Yes you do," all three of them answered.

"Yes I do," Sirius muttered to himself. Sirius sighedand started pacing again, telling himself not to care about a girl he's had no problem fighting with for the past year.He floppeddown on his bed and looked up, leaning against his elbows."This is good. Now I not only get to torture Giliba, but I also get to torture her new boy toy."

"You have a strange way of showing girls you like them," Peter said.

"I don't like Giliba," Sirius insisted.

"Oh right, my mistake. You just kiss Gigi multiple times, stay away from practically every bimbo who wants you in this school, ask James how to stick to one girl, and you obviously care that she has a new boyfriend…but you're right, you don't like her," Remus said, rolling his eyes.

Sirius sat up. "I'm glad you see things my way."

"Sirius, no one will _ever _see things your way," Peter noted.

"Gigi's only been with this guy for a few days Si," Remus said. "We would have told you eventually."

Sirius turned on his side, supporting his weight by leaning on his arm. "Whatever, I don't care."

"It sucks, doesn't it?" James asked.

"What does?" Sirius asked.

"Not caring."

Sirius paused. "Yeah," Sirius sighed. "It does." And then he fell back onto his bed, staring up at the ceiling.

* * *

"He found out," Gigi said, throwing her books down on Lily's bed and dropping onto Lily's bed, stomach first. 

Lily looked up from her work. "Explain please."

"Sirius found out about Jesse," Gigi said with a sigh.

"How?"

"Me."

Lily put her quill down and turned to Gigi. "So…all this threatening me and Kacie and telling us not to tell Sirius was just a joke?"

"Oh no, I really was going to kill you if you told him," Gigi said.

"Oh," Lily said, leaning back in her desk chair. "As long as we've got that figured out."

Gigi sighed and lay back on Lily's bed, looking up at the ceiling. Gigi pictured Sirius looking so casual and gorgeous sitting on the couch beside her, acting like there wasnothing between them.For some reason, she couldn't get what he said out of her head. He apologized to her and tried being nice and all she could do was snap at him. And what was most visible in her mind was the way he looked when she told him that she had a boyfriend.

She sighed and continued to look up at the ceiling. "It was weird, Lily."

"Talking to Sirius?" Lily asked. "Or talking to Sirius about your boyfriend?"

"Being in the same _room _as Black," Gigi corrected.

"How did you run into Sirius?" Lily asked.

"He came to talk to me."

"The same Sirius who has been avoiding you for weeks?" Lily asked. Gigi nodded. "The same Sirius who never wanted to talk to you again after you told him he meant nothing to you?" Lily nodded. "The same Sirius who-"

"The same messy black haired, dark eyed, tall, stupid acting guy," Gigi finished.

"You forgot goofy looking," Lily said. Gigi rolled her eyes at her. Lily grinned. "So what did he say?"

Gigi sat up and looked at Lily. "Those three words you _never _hear out of a guy's mouth."

"He said I love you?" Lily squeaked.

"_No_," Gigi said, rolling her eyes. "He said I am sorry."

"Ah, _those _three words," Lily said. Lily grinned, leaned in, and looked up at Gigi. "So he came to talk to you huh?"

Gigi looked at her suspiciously. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"He came to talk to you," Lily repeated in the form of a statement, not a question.

"Yes, I think we've established that already," Gigi said.

Lily smiled wide. "He came to talk to you," Lily said happily.

"Do I need to say it in another language also? Or maybe I'll sign language it to you," Gigi said. "How many times do you need to repeat it for it to get through that thick head of yours?"

"Just go with me on this one," Lily started.

"No."

"You don't even know what I was going to say," Lily pointed out.

"It's gonna be some theory about how him talking to me was a sign that he truly likes me and wants to be friends or more than friends or something like that," Gigi said.

Lily gaped at her. "You've been friends with me too long."

"Black just got bored of hanging out with the same bimbos, happened to walk into the same room that I was in, and sat down next to me," Gigi said.

"So tell me this," Lily said, getting up from her desk and plopping down on her bed. "Why didn't you tell him about your boyfriend before now? Or why didn't James, Remus, and Peter tell him? And why did you threaten me and Kace not to tell him?"

"I don't see your point," Gigi said stubbornly.

"That's because I don't have one," Lily said. "But _you _do."

"You're not making sense."

"There's a reason you didn't want Sirius to find out about Jesse," Lily said.

"Remember when you and James hated each other and he completely ruined your date with Geoff just for the fun of it?" Gigi asked.

"I call those times 'the dark period,'" Lily joked.

"Well whatever you call it, _that's _why I didn't tell Black. Because then not only would he make_ my _life a living hell…he'd make Jesse's life a living hell. Just for the hell of it," Gigi said.

"James did all those things to me because he liked me," Lily said.

"Black doesn't like me," Gigi insisted. "And I don't like him."

"Of course not," Lily said with a hint of a smile.

Gigi groaned, noticing the smile on Lily's face. "Don't you have studying to get back to?"

"I always have time to take a break for gossip," Lily said with a grin.

* * *

"Guess what?" Lily cried out. 

"Mars isn't a planet anymore?" Kacie said, leaning forward.

"Um…no," Lily said.

"Oh…you finally learned that life isn't all about books?" Kacie asked.

"No," Lily said, putting her hands on her hips.

"McGonagall isn't giving us any more work this year!" Kacie exclaimed.

"Yeah, like _that _would ever happen," Lily said sarcastically.

"Hmm…ooooh, Sirius has _finally _become sane!" Kacie cried out.

"McGonagall not giving us work is more likely," Lily said.

"Okay then," Kacie said still thinking. "James asked you to marry him!"

"No," Lily said sternly.

"Guess what!" Gigi cried out, running into the room.

"Oh god, don't get her started," Lily muttered.

"Well if _Mars _is still a planet, maybe Pluto isn't one!" Kacie cried out.

"Are you done yet?" Lily asked impatiently.

Kacie thought about it and leaned back in her chair. "Yeah, I'm all out."

Gigi looked from Kacie to Lily. "Do I even want to _know _why Pluto isn't a planet anymore?"

"Let's just say that Kacie is the worst guesser ever," Lily said.

"Oooh, I got it! You finally found friends who actually _like _you!" Kacie cried out with a smirk. Lily gave her a look. "Okay…_now _I'm out."

"Guess who made an effort to talk to our one and only Gigi over here," Lily said with a grin, laughing at Gigi's annoyed look.

"Satan!" Kacie exclaimed. "Santa Clause!"

Lily turned to Gigi. "Do me a favor…whenever I tell Kacie to 'guess,' just slap me."

Gigi grinned. "Gladly."

"The Pope!" Kacie cried out.

"You completely ruin any piece of news I have," Lily said, leaning back in her pillows.

"Okay, tell me who talked to Gigi," Kacie said.

"Sirius," Lily said with a wide grin.

Kacie sat up. "He is _way _better than Santa Clause!"

"Tell Black that," Gigi muttered. "We don't need his head growing so big that he doesn't fit through doorways." Gigi paused. "Although it would be kinda funny to watch him try."

"So he made an effort to talk to you huh?" Kacie said, leaning back. "Do you know what this means?"

"Either he was abducted by aliens, or it was a dare," Gigi said. "And being that he was abducted by aliens many years ago, I'd go with the latter."

"_Or_, he wanted to talk to you and he really like-"

"I liked you better when you were annoying Lily by guessing wrong," Gigi mumbled. "Let's get one thing straight. Black likes to annoy me and make my life miserable. In no way does he like me or will he ever like me, okay?"

Lily and Kacie were quiet for a bit before Kacie sat up and grinned. "He so likes you."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

_awww, Sirius is trying to be friends with Gigi. is that a good idea? and whoa, Gigi has a boyfriend. how long with that last and how will Sirius actbecauseof it?yay for Lily and James getting back together! will that last?_

_only one way to find out: REVIEW!_


	22. Boy Toy, Minor Detail, Marble vs Granite

**_Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 22_**

_Yeah i know...it's been a week and a half (sorry!). but like i said, i just had my last week of classes and now I have finals (grr). but updating is always a nice way to avoid studying! haha. thanks to everyone who has been reviewing...i really appreciate it! Now...on with the story!_

_Disclaimer: i'm not JK Rowling and if you haven't figured that out by now...I'd get help. (hehe, just kidding)_

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"I can't believe you _told _him," Lily hissed to James.

"Oh, he doesn't count," James hissed back with a shrug. "He never listens."

"Guys, he's sitting _right there_," Remus said, pointing his thumb to Sirius.

"I'm sorry, what?" Sirius asked, looking up.

"It's a guy thing," James said to Lily with a shrug.

"Do you tell them _everything _we do?" Lily demanded to know.

"Um…" James said, biting his lip. "I didn't tell them what we ate for breakfast this morning."

"You are hopeless," Lily said, hitting him with a pillow.

"Hopelessly in love with you," James said with a grin.

"Gag me," Remus muttered.

"Someone shut him up," Sirius mumbled.

"You're pathetic," Lily said with a laugh, snuggling close to James.

"Well you're the one dating him," Sirius said. "Doesn't that make you pathetic?"

"No," Lily said. "But hanging out with you three when I have homework makes me pathetic."

"Oh yeah, having a life instead of burying your nose in a book makes you pathetic," Sirius muttered sarcastically.

"Having a life huh?" Lily asked, sitting up. "Your life is gonna consist of booze, girls, and living in a box on the street. I'd take the pathetic book reading life."

"You keep talking to me like that and I'm not sharing my box with you," Sirius said with a grin.

Remus jumped up from the floor. "Alright, well I have a date."

Lily jerked her head in his direction, James dropped his jaw, and Sirius stopped moving altogether.

James turned to Sirius. "Did you know about this?"

"Do I look like someone who is in the know?" Sirius asked.

Lily turned toRemus. "So...um, what?"

"I have a date," Remus repeated.

"With a girl?" James asked.

"No, with a monkey," Remus said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"Hey, I don't judge," James said, shrugging his shoulders.

"And that's a bit more likely," Sirius said jokingly.

"Wow, Remus has a date…there's something you don't hear very often," Lily said.

"It's right up there with of _course _those pants make you look fat, and yes professor, I think I _will _turn in my homework today," James said,

Sirius looked around. "Does anyone else feel like this world has turned upside down? How come I'm sitting here without a date, and _you _have a date?"

"Could you make me sound any more pathetic?" Remus asked.

Lily laughed and turned to Sirius. "So Remus has a date…and _you _don't huh? Isn't the world funny at times?"

"If it's so funny, how come I'm not laughing?" Sirius asked.

"Well you're the loser who doesn't have anyone to be with on a Saturday night," Lily said.

"I thought I had my friends," Sirius said sarcastically. "But I don't see any friends here."

"Looks like _some_one's grumpy," Lily said.

Sirius got up. "I'm going to bed."

"And sleepy," James added.

"Okay, stop comparing me to dwarves," Sirius said.

"Oh, don't be so dopey," Lily said with a slight smile. James just looked at her and burst out laughing to which Sirius joined in.

"So who's the lucky girl?" James asked, turning his attention back to Remus.

"And most importantly, is she hot?" Sirius asked. "Ooh, and does she have a friend for me?"

"Lacey Stepford," Remus answered James, ignoring Sirius completely.

"Oooh, good choice," James said with a low whistle. Lily gave him a disgusted look. "But not as good as _you _of course." He leaned in to kiss her and she covered his mouth with her hand and turned her attention back to Remus. Remus just laughed and walked into the bathroom.

"He's not wearing _that _is he?" Sirius joked.

"I can still hear you!" Remus called out from the bathroom.

"That's because I said it loud!" Sirius cried out.

Remus stuck his head out of the bathroom and gave Sirius an obscene gesture with his hand, which only resulted in Lily and James throwing their heads back and laughing.

"I thought you were going to bed," James said to Sirius.

"Nah," Sirius said. "I only go to bed when there's someone else in it."

"Well, I'm sure you can borrow the monkey Remus is _not _going out with," Lily said.

"You just want me to leave so you and James can be alone," Sirius said. "Which by the way, you can do in your _own _room."

"I get the feeling I'm not wanted," Lily said.

"It's true," Sirius teased.

Lily got up from the floor and kissed James. "It's fine, I have to go find Gigi anyway. I told her we'd hang out like half an hour ago."

"Giliba huh?" Sirius asked, sitting up. "Shouldn't she be hanging out with her boy toy or whatever?"

"Her _boyfriend_," Lily corrected. "And they hung out during her off periods today so I've got her for the night."

"What about Kacie?" Sirius asked. "What's she up to?"

"She's on a date," Lily said.

Sirius groaned and hit his head intentionally against his bedpost a few times. "It's official. I'm a loser."

"That's been official for awhile," Lily snickered. Sirius looked up and gave her a look. "And that's my cue to leave."

"Even _Peter's _got something to do tonight," Sirius said with another groan.

"Detention doesn't classify as 'something' Padfoot," James said.

"At least he's not bored!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Since when is scrubbing cauldrons not boring?" James asked.

Lily laughed at Sirius and walked out, shaking her head teasingly as she closed the door.

James got up from the floor. "Good, she's gone."

"Hmm…that's not usually something the boyfriend says when the girlfriend leaves," Sirius said. "Are you two having problems? Oooh, can _I _date her?"

James hit Sirius with a pillow. "I need to discuss her birthday with you guys."

Remus poked his head out of the bathroom, toothbrush in his mouth. "What do you have planned?" At least, James is pretty sure that's what he said. It's hard to understand someone when their mouth is full of toothpaste.

"Oh, I've got an entire day planned. Food, presents, party. It's her eighteenth birthday, it's gonna be perfect. Alcohol, some form of jewelry, dancing. It'll be completely awesome!" James rambled.

"You got nothing huh?" Sirius said.

"My mind's blank," James said with pout.

"Well, let's start with the present," Remus said, entering the room.

"Well that's easy," Sirius said. "You get her-"

"I'm not getting her an edible thong, a blow up doll, or sexy lingerie that you and I both know she would never wear," James said.

"Damn," Sirius said. "I'm all out of ideas."

James sighed. "I've been racking my brain for the perfect gift to get Lily," James said.

"Any ideas?" Remus asked.

"I guess I'll just pick up whatever's lying around," James said with a shrug.

"James! You can't do that!" Remus exclaimed.

"I know, I know. I was kidding," James said. "I'll look around for at _least_ three minutes."

"I'm going to Hogsmeade tomorrow," Sirius said. "I can get her gift for you."

"Okay!" James exclaimed.

"James!" Remus repeated. "You can't do that either."

"You're right," James said. "Sirius sucks at picking out gifts." James turned to Remus. "_You _on the other hand…"

"Forget it," Remus said immediately. James pouted.

"I do _not _suck at picking out gifts," Sirius confirmed.

"You'd come back with millions of gifts only _you _would love…all of which she'd hate," James said.

"That's not true," Sirius said, "_Everyone _loves cake."

Remus rolled his eyes. "I'm out of here." Remus looked from James to Sirius. "Good luck."

"We don't need luck, we'll figure out what to do for Lily," Sirius said.

"I was talking to James," Remus said. "Good luck dealing with Si all night long."

Sirius groaned. "I _really _need a girlfriend." Sirius turned to James. "What did Lily get you for your eighteenth birthday?"

"A vow to hate me forever," James noted.

"What?"

"We hated each other on my eighteenth birthday," James added.

"Oh yeah," Sirius said. "She was so smart then."

"Although, I was so drunk, I don't even remember what _you _got me," James said.

"I didn't get you anything," Sirius snickered.

"Gee, you're the bestest friend _ever_!" James cried sarcastically.

Sirius laughed. "I'm just kidding…I got you the alcohol."

James grinned. "You _are _the bestest friend ever."

"I know," Sirius teased.

* * *

"So she's not delirious, under a spell, or been hit on the head with something hard?" Sirius asked. 

Remus grabbed his pillow, put it at the end of his bed, and laid down on it. "How come it's so hard to believe that she liked me and actually wants to go out with me again?"

Sirius looked at him suspiciously and then turned to James. "I bet it was a piano that fell on her head."

James laughed and sat down on the floor. "Well it's about time you got in the game."

"I agree," Remus said.

"Nah, it was _definitely _an entire bed that fell on top of her," Sirius decided.

"So, can I ask the obvious question?" Peter inquired, ignoring Sirius.

"_Yes_, Sirius is normally thisstupid," James answered.

"Not _that _obvious question," Peter said and then turned to Remus. "What about the little thing about you being a werewolf?"

"Minor detail," Remus said with a shrug.

"It's a 'minor detail' that every month you disappear to turn into a hairy animal that howls at the moon and kills anything in its way that people are deathly afraid of?" Peter asked.

Sirius burst out laughing. "Man, your love life is more screwed up than mine!"

"How can your love life be screwed up? You don't _have _one right now," Remus pointed out.

Sirius pouted. "That fun moment lasted a whole two seconds."

Remus shrugged at Peter's question. "We're just casually dating right now. The whole werewolf thing hasn't come up in conversation."

"Oh, so she _hasn't _casually and totally out of the blue asked you if you're a werewolf?" James asked sarcastically. "That's strange, because that is usually the first question I ask my dates."

"My first question is usually 'will you sleep with me?'" Sirius said.

"And that's why you're alone right now," James pointed out.

"Damn you and your happy life," Sirius exclaimed.

"You need to get out there again Si," Peter said. "It's a little strange that out of all four of us, _you're _the only one not with a girl."

Sirius sat up. "Since when do _you _have a girl?"

"Since last night," Peter said with a shrug. "We met in detention."

"_Told _you he wasn't bored!" Sirius cried out, leaning back against his bedsheets.

James lay down on his stomach and looked up at Sirius. "I'm sure we can find you a girl."

"Does this make me your charity case?" Sirius asked.

"When's the last time you got laid?" Remus asked. Sirius, James, and Peter all jerked their heads in awe. "I've been living with Sirius too long."

"What does it matter when I was with a girl last?" Sirius said with a shrug. "It really hasn't been that long."

"If it's been longer than two days, that's a lot for you," Remus noted.

"What about Kelsey Longoria?" James suggested.

"Ew no, have you _seen _her nose? It's almost as big as her ass," Sirius muttered.

"Well what about her best friend, Karla?" Remus asked.

"Can't," Sirius said.

"Why not?" Peter asked.

"Have you _seen _the size of her brother?" Sirius said. "If I hurt her, he'd kill me instantly."

"He does have a point there," James said. "Okay, what about Emma Boris?"

"Slept with her sister already. She'd never go for me," Sirius said, letting out a yawn.

"Lori Jetson?" Remus offered.

"Friends with Slytherins. Enough said."

"Jessi Morig?" Peter suggested.

"She's in the library too much," Sirius said. "I can't be with a smart girl."

"Keiley Horitz?" James asked.

"She has huge earlobes," Sirius said.

"What about her friend, Mel Gigglez?" Peter inquired.

"Weird last name…I'd laugh every time I talk to her," Sirius said with a shrug.

"Okay, either you've dated them, they're ugly, or you hate their last names. We're running out of prospects here," Remus said.

"Look," Sirius said, getting up from his bed. "I don't need your help getting a girl. I never needed any of you helping me before and I turned out great."

"Hmm, I'm not sure the word 'great' is an appropriate one to use…" Remus said.

"Okay, but don't you-" James said, turning to Sirius.

"And remember the last time you tried helping me?" Sirius argued, looking at Remus. "You set me up with a complete lunatic."

"How was I supposed to know that she played with sock puppets!" Remus cried out. "But that won't hap-"

"I don't need a girl right now, okay?" Sirius insisted.

"That's like saying you don't need cake," James muttered.

"I don't need a girl to be happy!" Sirius exclaimed. "And I certainly don't need relationship advice from _you _three."

"Why do you say _you three _like it's a bad thing?" James wondered.

"Oh c'mon," Sirius said. "You were caught with another girl in your bedroom, Remus hasn't had a date for years until now, and Peter gets dumped by every girl he dates."

"Hey!" James said. "Nancie and I weren't doing anything!"

"That was _so _not the point of my speech," Sirius said.

"Well, what _was_ the point?" Remus demanded to know. "To make us all feel miserable just because _you're _miserable?"

"I'm not miserable!"

"You don't want to date any girl because you're in love with a girl who hates your guts!" Remus cried out.

"Hey!" Sirius shouted. "I do _not _love Giliba! Quit telling me who I do and do not like!"

Remus got up from his bed. "You love Gigi!"

"Okay, that would be telling me who I like," Sirius exclaimed.

"To be fair, it's telling you who you _love_, not who you _like_," James pointed out. Sirius growled at him. "But to hell with fairness!"

Remus turned back to Sirius, ignoring James completely. "Everyone knows you love her but you! And you get crabby and become an asshole when we even touch on the subject of her!"

"Stay out of my life!" Sirius cried out.

"Guys!" Peter shouted.

"Oh shut up Peter," Sirius said.

"Hey Sirius…" James said calmly. "Don't do this. Stop acting like a-"

"Don't you have a girlfriend to go spend all your time with?" Sirius sneered. "Or are you too busy hanging out with Nancie?"

"What the hell is your problem?" James asked, standing up from the floor. "None of us have done anything to you. You're always complaining about how you're alone and want a girl. We were just trying to help."

"Well do me a favor and don't," Sirius snapped, walking into the bathroom and slamming the door.

* * *

Lily looked up and noticed Sirius just sitting on a couch in her common room. "What are you doing here Sirius?" 

"Hiding," Sirius said, not even bothering to look up.

"From what?" Lily said.

Sirius sighed. "I'm an asshole," Sirius said nonchalantly.

"I like this story already," Lily said with a grin.

Sirius gave her a look and walked over to sit next to her. "I'm just tired of them getting on my case. I don't love her and they need to stop telling me that. And they need to drop the subject altogether."

"Okay, now I'm confused by this story," Lily said.

"Forget it," Sirius said. "I am just annoyed by my friends right now."

"Well you don't need to hide from them at the moment," Lily said with a shrug. "They're playing a prank right now."

Sirius stared hard at her. "With_out _me?"

"Well clearly you guys aren't talking," Lily said with a shrug.

"You're the Head Girl! You should stop pranks! Pranks are against the rules!" Sirius cried out.

"If I stopped _every _prank you guys played, you'd be permanently in detention," Lily noted.

"Well, James is Head Boy! He's setting a bad example!" Sirius cried out.

"You never minded before," Lily pointed out.

Sirius sighed and looked out into the distance. Finally he turnedand looked at her with a sad frown. "They're really playing a prank?"

"Some Gus guy offended James. Gus said something about James' hair. If you ask me, Gus was right," Lily said with a shrug. "I think there was talk of frogs and jellyfish."

"Without me," Sirius said in the form of a statement, not a question.

"You must have really pissed them off," Lily said.

"Just because I don't want to date ugly girls or ones who need to change their last name, doesn't mean the guys have to argue with me," Sirius said.

"Once again I'm confused."

Sirius sighed again. "So…where's Giliba?"

Lily looked up. "So, we're changing the subject now?" Sirius gave her a look. "Oh you know, she gets hungry at this time. She's down at the kitchens."

"With her boy toy?"

"_Boyfriend_."

"How are she and the boy toy doing?" Sirius asked.

"_Boyfriend_," Lily repeated. "They're fine, great together. They have a lot in common."

"Oh really? Like what?"

"Their hatred for you," Lily said.

Sirius actually grinned. "They both hate me huh?"

"Well you beat up Jesse's best friend in third year. Some fight about Quidditch," Lily said with a shrug.

"Jesse?" Sirius asked. "_Jesse Hauter _is her boyfriend?" Lily nodded. Sirius turned to Lily. "It wasn't a fight about Quidditch."

"Huh?"

"His best friend was conspiring with my cousin," Sirius said.

"So?"

Sirius just grinned. "This is better than I thought."

"I am so confused."

"If only you knew Bellatrix," Sirius said, still grinning. "His best friend, Lestrange was good friends with my cousin."

"So this Lestrange guy deserves to be punched because of it?" Lily asked.

Sirius's grin got bigger. "Bellatrix and Lestrange are in Slytherin House. The whole family is plotting to get me to become a Death Eater."

Lily drew in a deep breath and sat there completely shocked. "Really?" Lily looked at him suspiciously. "Why do you look surprisingly happy about that?"

Sirius ignored her second question. "I was annoyed with Lestrange and him constantly trying to get me to go to the Dark Side so I beat him up. Not to mention the fact that he worshiped Bellatrix. Plus he insulted James and Remus every chance he got. I was sick of it," Sirius said with a shrug.

"Explain to me why you're still grinning…"

Sirius broke out in a huge smile. "Isn't it obvious?"

"Um…no?"

"Giliba is only dating Jesse to piss me off," Sirius stated.

Lily looked at him as if he were crazy. "I don't think that's exactly right…I doubt Gigi even-"

"Jesse knew everything Lestrange was doing and he even hung around Bellatrix at times. He knew everything that was going on."

"But I doubt _Gigi _knows that," Lily said.

"Wow, it's amazing how far girls will go to get revenge," Sirius said, still grinning.

"You are the biggest moron I know," Lily said.

Sirius looked at her. "If I wasn't so happy…that would hurt."

"She likes him," Lily said. "A lot. And he likes her. No one is dating anyone to get revenge."

"Are they sleeping together?" Sirius asked.

"You have now been upgraded to biggest asshole," Lily said.

"It's a simple question."

"A question that I am _not _answering," Lily responded. "Maybe guys tell each other that stuff, but girls do _not _share that kind of stuff. Especially with the sworn enemy."

"I'm your sworn enemy?"

"You're _Gigi's _enemy," Lily said. "The guy she hates with a passion. The only person in this entire world that she actually wants dead."

"Don't you think you're exaggerating?" Sirius asked.

"Nope," Lily said. "Gigi even made a vow to herself that the moment murder becomes legal, you're dead."

"Note to self: stay clear of Giliba," Sirius said.

"That's something you're good at," Lily said.

"Whatever," Sirius said. "I'm gonna go find the guys and help them put frogs in Gus's bed."

"As Head Girl, I should give you a detention for that," Lily said.

"Or just give me a good spanking," Sirius teased with a wink.

"Maybe I'll find a way to make murder legal…" Lily said, obviously disgusted by his comment.

"And that's my cue to leave," Sirius said, practically running out of the room.

* * *

"I love hot chocolate," Gigi said, taking a sip and handing it to Jesse. 

"Cookies aren't bad either," Jesse said with a wink, putting his arms around Gigi.

"Screw cookies," Gigi said, placing her lips on Jesse's, taking the cookies out of his hand and placing them on the counter.

"I never liked food anyway," Jesse said, kissing Gigi. Gigi threw her arms around Jesse's neck and they started snogging passionately.

"What do you say we leave all this food here and go up to the Astronomy Tower?" Jesse asked, giving Gigi a peck on the cheek.

"Perfect," Gigi said, taking Jesse's hand.

"So tell me," Jesse said, as they exited the kitchen. "What's it like being best friends with the Head Girl?"

Gigi shrugged. "Believe it or not, she's not that strict. I mean, she's a believer of the rules, and studies hard to be the best in the year. But she can let her guard down and have some fun also. Actually, one time we convinced her to go out to the grounds with us and drink beer and wine. She was as drunk as ever. The boys were amazed at how she was acting."

"The boys?" Jesse quizzed.

"The Marauders," Gigi said with a shrug. "James wasn't happy with her carefree attitude but it was amusing to watch."

"Aren't they going out?"

Gigi nodded. "Even though they spent the first six years hating each other."

"And now not only are they Head Boy and Girl together, sharing a room, and taking almost all the same classes…but they're sleeping together."

Gigi stopped. "What gives you that impression?"

"Because James is the biggest player I know," Jesse said. "Him not having sex is like any human not getting oxygen."

"That's an awful thing to say," Gigi said, letting go of his hand. Gigi paused. "True…but_ awful_."

"Oh c'mon, I didn't mean it like that," Jesse said. "At least he's not as bad as Sirius. That boy is the reason all girls doubt the intentions of any guy."

"Yeah, I can't argue with you there," Gigi said, putting her arm around Jesse's back. "He's living proof that God makes mistakes."

"Not a fan of him huh?"

"It's like you said," Gigi said. "Girls distrust all guys because of how much of an asshole he is."

"It's not like you two dated or anything right?" Jesse said.

Gigi looked out into the hallway to see the four Marauders coming towards them. She glanced at Sirius and then looked back at Jesse. "Nope, _definitely _never dated."

"Then clearly you are a smart girl," Jesse said.

"I wish," Gigi said under her breath.

"Speaking of them," Jesse said, as the four boys stopped to say hi.

"Hey Gigi," James said. "We were just taking a stroll in the hallways. It's always-"

"Oh give it up James," Gigi said. "You and I both know you're playing a prank."

"While taking a stroll in the hallways," James said. "Where are you guys going?"

"Also just going for a stroll in the hallways," Gigi said with a grin.

"I'll believe your story if you believe mine," James said, matching her grin.

"How's your best friend Lestrange?" Sirius asked Jesse, ignoring Gigi completely.

Jesse was caught off guard by that question. "Oh, um…we're not really friends anymore."

"So you got some brains huh?" Sirius asked.

"What the hell are you doing, Black?" Gigi sneered.

"Just being friendly," Sirius said, turning towards Jesse. "So, how's the Dark Side?"

"Um," Jesse said, obviously uncomfortable. "Er…huh?"

"What the hell is your problem?" Gigi asked, stepping forward towards Siriusand glaring upat him.

Sirius laughed. "You going to punch me Giliba?" Sirius rolled his eyes at her and turned to Jesse. "As I recall, that's what I did to Lestrange."

"Get out of the way Black," Gigi ordered.

"Ask nicely," Sirius insisted.

"Get out of the way…_NOW_," Gigi said, pushing Sirius hard and walking away, grabbing Jesse's hand and pulling him with her.

Remus looked at Sirius who stumbled tothe floor. "Well, that went well."

"You use the word love in a sentence right now, and I'll kill you," Sirius said, getting up from the ground.

"I wasn't planning on it," Remus said with a shrug. "But life would be easier if you would just admit that you lo-" Sirius pushed Remus over and walked ahead.

James looked at Remus on the floor. "To be fair…he did warn you."

* * *

"Oh hey James, are you-" Lily started. 

"SHHHH!" four voices screeched.

"A simple hello would have been fine," Lily said. "What's going on?"

"Gigi went upstairs to borrow a book from me and ran into Sirius," Remus whispered. "We're trying to listen."

"Which isn't hard considering they've been yelling their heads off," James added.

"FUCK YOU!"

James looked up at Lily. "See?"

Sirius slammed his door shut and looked at Gigi. "Oh I didn't mess your date up Giliba. I'm sure you had plenty of sex."

Gigi slapped him across the face. "Everything that has happened between us is _your _fault. You hear me? YOUR FAULT! So why is it that you keep making my life miserable? I never did anything to you-"

"I will NOT become a death eater!" Sirius cried out, rubbing his cheek.

Gigi stopped mid sentence. "Are we still having the same conversation?"

"Jesse is up to no good," Sirius exclaimed.

Gigi looked Sirius in the face and laughed at him. "Let me guess. He's using me. He doesn't like me. He-"

"No, he could possibly be in love with you for all I care. That's not the problem."

"The only one with a problem right now is _you_," Gigi noted.

"I can't believe you'd stoop this low to get revenge on me!" Sirius cried out.

"Okay, clearly we are _not _having the same conversation."

"Stop acting naïve! I know you hate me but are you really going to date a guy who was once friends with the people trying to get me to come over to the Dark Side? Are you _really _that evil?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Jesse isfriends with Lestrange who is friends with Bellatrix!"

"I have no idea who those people are!"

Sirius stopped. "You really have no idea what I'm talking about?"

"Black," Gigi stated. "When do I _ever _have any idea what you're talking about?"

"So you don't know them?"

"Do I care?"

"Hear me out," Sirius said.

"If I don't like what you have to say, can I slap you again?" Gigi asked.

"Is there any point in asking?"

"Good point," Gigi said. "I'll do it anyway."

"My entire family has been sorted into Slytherin House. And they are all Death Eaters."

Gigi just stared at him in awe. "I _knew _there was a reason I hated you."

Sirius gave her a look. "Lestrange is now Bellatrix's boyfriend. They're all trying to get me to come over to the Dark Side."

"Okay, but what the hell does this have to do with me?"

"Jesse and Lestrange used to be best friends," Sirius said.

"But they're not anymore," Gigi said.

"But he obviously knows what they are up to!" Sirius cried out. "He knows everything they're going to do to get me to be one of You-Know-Who's followers! He could still be in on it!"

"He's not _friends _with Lestrange anymore," Gigi exclaimed. "So I don't see what the big deal is."

"Giliba. You _can't _date a guy who is friends with Death Eaters!"

"They're not Death Eaters," Gigi said.

"Not yet! But just wait! Right when they graduate, they're going over the Dark Side! And they want to take me with them!"

"Well last time I checked, you had a mind of your own," Gigi said. "And you know how to say no."

"That won't work! It's not like they're just selling me drugs or something! They don't _take _no as an answer!"

"Well you have a wand! And you can use hexes and curses! I may hate you, but you're _not _that evil. You wouldn't become a Death Eater," Gigi said.

"So you don't care at all what I have to say?"

"Jesse isn't involved!" Gigi cried out. "You just don't want me to be happy! Just because you have an awful love life right now, doesn't mean you can ruin _mine!_"

"What makes you think my love life is awful?" Sirius demanded to know, putting his hands on his hips.

"Because the whole school is talking about it. You haven't been with a girl for awhile now! Just because every girl in this damn school hates you and doesn't want to be near you does _not _mean you can try and ruin _my _chance to be happy!"

"That's not what I'm doing!"

"You're such an asshole Black!" Gigi cried out. "Just when I think you've changed, you go and-"

"You thought I changed?"

"No! Clearly not!"

Sirius looked at her. "You can't do this!" Sirius sighed and looked her straight in the eyes. "I hate Lestrange! I hate Bellatrix! I hate my whole family!"

"I understand how you feel," Gigi said. "Because I hate you."

Gigi grabbed the book she meant to get and left the room. "You're doing this to spite me!" Sirius called out after her.

"Believe it or not Black, I don't do things because of _you_. I do things for _me_," Gigi said, and then slammed the door shut and walked down the stairs and past her five friends.

"You're right Kacie, these stairs _are _made of marble," James said lamely as Gigi walked past them.

"She's gone," Kacie pointed out.

"And the stairs are made of granite," Remus pointed out.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

_oooooh, will Sirius and Gigi work it out? will she ever talk to him? how will things with her and jesse turn out? and :GASP: Remus has a girlfriend? aww, it's about time, right? How will things with them work out...will he ever tell her that he's a werewolf? _

_REVIEW TO FIND OUT! _


	23. Smudgehousen, Six Minutes, and Twister

**_Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 23_**

_i'm done with classes! and exams! and professors! and homework! and i'm home for the summer and able to relax (til work)_

_disclaimer: i'm not JK Rowling. PLEASE tell me you kno that by now_

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"Where's Sirius?" James asked the next day. "I haven't seen him all day."

Remus looked up from his book. "Come to think of it…I didn't see him much last night either."

"Maybe he's doing homework," Peter suggested. The three of them looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"Maybe he's still pissed off at us," James proposed.

"If he's pissed at anyone, it's Gigi," Remus said.

"She did slap him," Peter noted. "And didn't seem to care that Sirius could end up on the Dark Side."

"Hey, do me a favor," Lily said, walking into the boys room. "The next time your best friend wants to snog his girlfriend, tell him to do it somewhere other than an open hallway."

James, Remus, and Peter all exchanged looks. "What best friend?"

Lily gave them a blank look. "The only one of you _not here_."

They all looked at each other with confused glances, clearly trying to think about it.

"Remus," James muttered pointing at Remus. He turned to Peter. "Peter." He paused and then pointed at himself. "And I'm here." He turned to Lily and shrugged. "No, the only guys within the Marauders committed enough to have girlfriends are in this room."

Lily gave him a look. "Well turns out you've got another committed friend."

James paused. "Oh my god! _Kacie _has a girlfriend?"

"She and Gigi are _awfully _close…" Peter noted.

"Kacie is not gay!" Lily cried out and then paused. "And Gigi has a boyfriend."

"Oh that's probably just a cover story," James noted.

"They are not going out!" Lily exclaimed.

They all paused again, while the wheels turned in their minds. "Well, we're _sorta _friends with the Prewett twins…" Remus said slowly. "Maybe one of them got a girl-"

"Oh my God, do I have to explain _everything _around here?" Lily cried out.

They all exchanged looks and then turned back to Lily and said simultaneously, "Yes."

Lily sighed and rolled her eyes. "I'm talking about _Sirius_."

The boys stared at Lily until James asked, "Sirius who?"

"Oh my god, I _do _have to explain everything around here," Lily said. "Sirius _Black_."

The boys exchanged glances and burst out laughing. "Sirius has never used the word girlfriend in his entire life."

"Sirius has a girlfriend," Lily confirmed.

The boys stopped laughing. "Sirius has a _girlfriend_!" they all shrieked.

"Wow, you guys are really dense," Lily said. They just all stared at her in disbelief. "Some Lucie girl from sixth year."

"I didn't think the word 'girlfriend' was in Sirius's vocabulary," James said.

"Wait…Lucie Smudgehousen?" Remus asked. Lily nodded. "Damn, she's pretty hot."

Lily rolled her eyes at Remus. "You're starting to sound like Sirius more and more each day."

"He'd be proud to know that," Remus said with a grin.

"C'mon guys," James said. "This is _Sirius _we're talking about. It's probably just a hook up buddy."

"That could be it," Lily said. "Except when I ran into them, Sirius told me to leave him and his girlfriend alone."

"He actually used the word _girlfriend?_" Peter asked.

"That doesn't sound like Sirius," Remus pointed out

"Yes, but making out in an open hallway does," James snickered.

"Hey guys," Sirius said, walking into the room. "What's up?" James, Remus, and Peter just stared blankly at Sirius. Sirius turned to Lily. "Okay, I know I'm hot, but must they stare at me like that?"

"Nice shade of lipstick you're wearing," Remus noted. Sirius quickly wiped off his mouth.

"So what's new buddy? Do any homework recently? Go to any classes lately? Snog your girlfriend recently?" James asked smugly.

"Actually, I have _not _done any homework recently," Sirius responded.

James threw a pillow at Sirius. "You have a girlfriend!"

"Yes."

"You've never had a girlfriend!" Remus cried out.

"Right."

"You don't even like using the word girlfriend in a sentence!" Peter exclaimed.

"No."

"Feel free to give them more than one word answers," Lily said.

Sirius turned back to Peter to once again respond to his statement. "No…I do not."

"Lucie Smudgehousen, huh? That's a _much_ funnier last name than Gigglez," Remus said.

"Smudgehousen? Is _that _Lucie's last name?" Sirius asked. All four of his friends gaped at him. "Just kidding…" Sirius said in a voice that didn't sound like he was kidding at all.

"So why this sudden interest in getting a girlfriend?" James asked curiously.

"Why this sudden interest in my love life?"

"It's not sudden!" Remus cried out. "We've been interested in your love life since the first time you announced you had sex!"

Sirius grinned. "Ah, yes. That was a good day."

"Technically that's not a love life," Lily said. "It's a sex life."

"Technically he's never _had _a love life before," James noted.

Everyone looked over at Sirius who shrugged. "I'm not arguing."

"So do you know the meaning of commitment? Or do we have to explain it to you?" James asked. "And by we, I mean Lily."

"Guys, I can commit okay?" Sirius said, obviously aggravated. "I'm seventeen-"

"You're eighteen," James corrected.

Sirius paused. "When did I turn eighteen?"

"You were too drunk to remember," James noted.

"Oh." Sirius shrugged. "Well whatever. I'm eighteen and it's about time I grow up and stop using girls just for sex."

"Hold that thought," Lily said. "I need to go get a tape recorder."

Sirius rolled his eyes at Lily. "How about we _stop _talking about me?"

"But that's your favorite topic of conversation…" James said slowly.

"So how did you and Lucie meet? And get together?" Remus wondered.

"So this whole not talking about me thing isn't gonna happen huh?" Sirius asked. Sirius sighed. "We met in the library."

"Whoa…big day," James said. "You got a girlfriend and you discovered where the library is."

"Hey, I knew where the library was," Sirius said.

"The other day when I asked you where it was, you said it was next to the Great Hall," Remus said.

"So?"

"It's on the second floor _not _near the Great Hall," Remus said.

"Oh," Sirius said. "So what's right next to the Great Hall?"

"A broom closet."

"Oh," Sirius repeated. "Then forget what I said. I met Lucie in a broom closet."

"Hmm, and I bet I can guess what happened next," Remus muttered.

Sirius laughed. "I'm just kidding. We met in the library when I was doing homework."

"Okay, this day keeps getting weirder and weirder," Peter said. "First Sirius uses the word girlfriend, then library, and now _homework_."

"Well I'm glad you're changing. This is great…_wonderful _in fact! Just one question," Remus said, looking Sirius right in the eye. "Who are you and what have you done with the real Sirius?"

Sirius chuckled. "Okay, so maybe I wasn't doing homework. But I did meet her in the library. And we just got to talking and we have a lot in common."

"Like what?" James asked.

"We both like me," Sirius said with a grin. James gave him a look. "We both hate Divinations and Charms. We both know nothing about the Muggle world. We both like Transfiguration."

"You hate Transfiguration," Remus said.

"I do?" Sirius asked. "But it's so much fun learning about the dark arts."

"You learn that in Defense Against the Dark Arts," James said, shaking his head in shame.

Sirius paused. "Doesn't Professor Reeble teach Transfiguration?"

"No," Remus said, rolling his eyes. "McGonagall teachers Transfiguration."

"No," Sirius exclaimed. "I know for a fact that she teaches detention!"

"That's not a class Si," Peter noted.

"But I'm doing so well in it!" Sirius exclaimed.

"_Anyway_, the point is that you don't like Transfiguration," Remus said.

"Oh whatever. _She _thinks I like it," Sirius said with a shrug.

"So you _lied _to her to make her like you?" Remus asked.

Sirius jerked his head towards Peter. "Oh my gosh, is this what it's like to be _you_?"

"Not funny," Peter said, but he was smiling.

Sirius sighed and looked at his three guys friends. "Look, I'm tired of you guys either thinking I'm a loser for not being with anyone or for thinking that I'm in love with Giliba."

"We don't think either one of those things," Lily said politely.

"We do," James answered, pointing to the three guys.

"How are you guys all still friends?" Lily said, shaking her head in shame.

"So you're just dating her to prove something to us?" Remus asked.

"No. I like her," Sirius said. "I am tired of being the one night stand guy and she's different. I_ want _to change for her."

"No girl is worth _changing_ yourself over," James said.

"You changed when dating Lily," Sirius noted.

"I did not!" James protested.

Lily burst out laughing. "Oh _puh-lease._ You were the asshole, date 'em and drop 'em guy, have sex with them and then ignore them in the hallways, talk about how great in bed you were, and brag about how many girls you could get."

Remus, Peter, and Sirius exchanged glances. "And when did all that change?" Sirius teased.

Lily threw a pillow at Sirius as she smirked up at James. James gave Lily a playful look and then turned his attention back to Sirius. "Okay, maybe I changed a little."

Sirius burst out laughing. "Changing a little is back when you suddenly decided you liked chocolate pudding better than vanilla pudding."

"I don't know why I always liked vanilla! It's so bland!" James exclaimed.

"The point is, you're happy," Sirius said to James.

Remus paused. "Was that the point of this conversation? I thought the point was that you have a girlfriend, which is strange."

"No, the point is that vanilla pudding sucks," James offered.

Sirius turned back to James. "You're happy. And I'm tired of being miserable. It's time to change and Lucie _makes _me want to change, okay?"

"Well good for Lucie," Remus said. "I only wished you listened to us all these years and made yourself change."

"I was happy with how I lived my life all these years til recently," Sirius said with a shrug.

"So you're really not going to miss the one night stands? Sex almost every weekend? Girls after girls after girls piling themselves on you?" Peter asked.

Sirius paused. "What have I _done?_" Sirius buried his head in his hands jokingly as everyone around him laughed.

* * *

"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!" 

Sirius looked around. "Yes! I win!"

Peter pouted. "Fine, but you only get six minutes!"

"And I'm timing you," Remus exclaimed as Sirius rushed into the bathroom and turned on the shower.

Sirius's voice boomed over the loud whooshing of the water coming from the shower. "Is this what every night is going to be like?"

"Us playing games to fight over the shower?" Peter asked.

"The outcome will be different though," Remus teased. "_I'll _win next time."

"No!" Sirius called out, jumping into the shower. "All four of us hanging out with our girlfriends. Out nights spent with girls, not playing pranks or getting drunk or convincing James to let me copy his homework."

Remus, Peter, and James stopped to think about it. "I will miss the convincing me to let you copy my homework days," James yelled over the water running.

"This isn't that different from usual days," Remus said, not bothering to speak loud enough for Sirius to hear. "Instead of having to stay out of the bedroom for Sirius to have his one night stands, being kicked out of James's common room so _he _can make out with some random girl, and getting fat by eating alone in the kitchens…we will all be with girls we care about."

James paused. "Or at least we three will be hanging out with girls we care about. I'm still a little iffy about Sirius."

"Yeah," Remus noted. "I didn't realize he could change. Like girlfriend, 'change' is a word I didn't think he had in his dictionary."

"But look at him," Peter said, pointing to the bathroom. "He's showering, shaving, and putting gel in his hair to make him look good. He never cared before."

"That's true," James said. "Sirius could go days without a shower and he could care less. He still knew all the girls loved him."

"And he does talk about Lucie a lot…surprisingly enough," Remus said.

"Maybe she's paying him," Peter suggested. "You know how excited he gets about money."

"I think he's just finally learned that committing to one person isn't a bad thing," Remus said with a shrug.

"I hope he doesn't use her or hurt her," James added. "I really hope he has changed…at least a little."

"Well, they've been going out for a week and a half and they haven't had sex," Peter said with a shrug.

"How do you know that?" Remus questioned.

"Because today at lunch he said they've been going out for a week and a half and they haven't had sex," Peter said.

"Yup, that's a clue," Remus said jokingly. "Well, then that's something. Sirius usually sleeps with them and drops them all within 24 hours."

Peter glanced at James. "So, how'd you do it?"

"Do what?" James asked.

"Change your ways," Peter said with a shrug. "Change to someone you weren't used to being. Change to being in a committed relationship."

James put his feet up on Sirius's desk and leaned back in his chair. "Lily made me want to change."

Remus paused and looked up from his Divinations homework. "I hope Sirius was right when he said Lucie makes him want to change."

"What do you think Lucie is like?" James asked.

"You haven't met her?" Remus asked.

"No," James said "Have you guys?"

Remus and Peter shook their heads. "Maybe he made her up," Peter joked.

"He doesn't have imaginary friends," Remus said.

"What are you talking about?" James asked. "Remember his imaginary duck, Lionel? Or his imaginary rhino, Bert? Or his imaginary peacock, Gertrude?"

"Those are imaginary _pets_," Remus said with a laugh.

"Nah, Lucie's a real person," Peter said. "I see her in the library all the time."

"So she's a real person, just not the person for _Sirius_," James said with a grin. "Anyone who reads isn't the one for him."

"Anyone with half a _brain _isn't the one for him," Peter said.

Remus looked up at the bathroom door. "Ugh, he's been in there for longer than six minutes. What could he be doing?"

"Well, we can rule out reading," Remus said, placing his homework on his bed.

"Done," Sirius said, coming out with just a towel around his waist.

"Is that what you're wearing on your date?" Remus joked.

"No, I'll be wearing less clothing than this," Sirius said with a wink.

"You've only got one layer on. You wear less clothing and you'd be nak-" Remus started. "Oh never mind."

Sirius grinned. "Peter, your turn for the shower."

"Hey boys," Kacie said, walking into the room. "Whoa, nice look Si."

Sirius gave a sheepish grin. "Wanna see what's _under _the towel?" Sirius teased.

"Stop hitting on me," Kacie said, plopping on Remus's bed and opening up a magazine. "You have a girlfriend."

"But there's always room for one more," Sirius joked, grabbing clothes off his bed and putting on jeans.

"Whoa, this girl's pretty," Kacie said, flipping through the magazine.

Remus leaned over to get a look. "That's the picture Sirius kisses every night before going to bed."

Sirius threw his wet towel at Remus. "Not true." Sirius paused. "But that girl _is _hott."

"Lemme guess, you named her and everything," Kacie said, rolling her eyes.

Sirius and Remus exchanged looks. "Genevieve."

Kacie laughed and noticed James sitting on the floor. "Don't you have your own room?"

"Don't you?" James teased.

"Well _my _room doesn't have a gorgeous girl waiting for me in it," Kacie said.

James checked his watch. "Crap! I was supposed to meet her twenty minutes ago." James quickly got off the floor and flew out of the room.

"_Someone's _whipped," Sirius noted.

"Why are you putting on that purple shirt? You hate purple," Remus said.

Sirius grinned shamefully. "Lucie's favorite color is purple."

"Speaking of being whipped," Kacie muttered and Remus laughed along with her.

Remus glanced up at the bathroom door. "When will it be _my _time to shower?" Remus groaned.

"Oh, you know Peter," Sirius said, putting gel into his hair. "He takes hour showers."

Remus quickly turned his attention back to the bathroom door. "SIX MINUTES!" he shouted.

* * *

"You throw that whipped cream at me and I will dump this entire piece of chocolate cake on your head," Sirius warned. 

Lucie grinned and flicked a little bit of whipped cream at him, while licking the rest of it off her hands. Sirius gave her an evil look and chased her around the kitchens with chocolate cake in his hands. Lucie shrieked and grabbed a thing of brownie batter to defend herself with. "This batter will match the whipped cream in your hair perfectly," Lucie said.

"Not as much as this cake will match your outfit," Sirius said, grinning ear to ear.

"You throw that at me and I'm never speaking to you-" Lucie was stopped as cake flew into her mouth and down her neck. "-again." She wiped the cake off her face and slapped it onto Sirius's cheeks.

"Get away from me!" Lucie shrieked as she saw Sirius pick up some chocolate sauce and run after her with it. Just then, she grabbed the leftover brownie batter and turned around to throw it at him.

At the same time, they threw their foods at each other and ended up tripping on the food that landed on the floor. Lucie fell on top of Sirius who was laughing. He grabbed her hand and pulled her close to him, kissing her right there on the kitchens floor.

"Ever hear of an apple? Or some sort of vegetable?" a voice said from the entrance.

"Or a _shower_?" another voice chimed in, looking at how dirty they were.

Sirius and Lucie looked up to see James and Lily grinning down at them. Sirius laughed and helped Lucie up from the floor. "Lucie, this is my best friend James and his girlfriend Lily."

"I know who they are," Lucie said, licking the cake off her fingers. "They _are _Head Boy and Head Girl."

"Oh yeah," Sirius said sheepishly.

Lucie looked up at James and Lily. "Hope you guys didn't want any cake, whipped cream, or brownies."

Sirius held up the empty container he had in his hands. "Or chocolate sauce."

Lily laughed as she took a cookie and propped herself up on the counter. "So Si brought you to his sacred spot huh? He must really like you," Lily said, biting into her cookie.

"So he doesn't take his other girlfriends here?" Lucie asked.

"What other girlfriends?" James muttered.

"Huh?" Lucie questioned.

"I said no," James responded as Lily hit him in the back.

"I can't believe I've been here for six years and never knew how to sneak into the kitchens," Lucie said, smiling up at Sirius.

"It was the first thing James and Sirius discovered during their first year," Lily said. "That and how to play pranks on the Slytherins without getting caught."

"Without getting caught?" James asked, raising his eyebrows.

"How long have you two been friends?" Lucie asked, referring to James and Sirius.

"Fourteen years too long," Sirius joked, tossing an orange to James.

"We met in a sandbox," James said, tossing the orange back. "He stole my shovel."

"To give it to the pretty blonde who lost hers!" Sirius exclaimed.

"So you were chasing after girls even at the age of four?" Lily asked.

"No," Sirius corrected. "Girls were chasing after _me_."

Lucie rolled her eyes and placed her hand in his. "If I recall, _you _came up to _me _in the library. I didn't chase you," Lucie said.

"I came up to you to ask how to get out of the library," Sirius teased. "And if _I _recall, you _did _chase after me."

"Because you left your Transfiguration book on my table!" Lucie exclaimed.

"Speaking up Transfiguration, we hear it's your favorite subject," James said with an evil grin.

"It's Sirius's favorite also," Lucie noted.

"Oh yes, we know that," Lily said with a matching evil grin. "He also loves long walks on the beach and cuddling." Lily and James smirked at her comment.

"Okay, who invited you guys?" Sirius teased.

"Nobody," James said. "We find it more fun to crash the party."

Sirius grinned down at Lucie and threw some whipped cream at James. James wiped it off his face and put it on Lily's face. Lily looked at him and said, "I wanna break up."

James laughed and argued, "Sirius started it!"

Lily turned to Sirius. "I wanna break up."

"We were never going out," Sirius noted and then gave an evil grin. "But that can be changed."

Lucie slapped him. "Hello…girlfriend sitting here."

Sirius turned to her. "Hi?"

Lucie rolled her eyes. "I wanna break up."

Lily smiled at her. "Well I'm available," she joked.

Sirius grinned. "I have no objection to that."

"I'm all up for a little girl on girl action," James said.

"Why are guys such pigs?" Lily asked, taking another cookie.

"Hey! Stop eating the cookies that took me an hour to bake because I couldn't get them just right," Sirius exclaimed.

"You mean the cookies the _house elves _made?" James asked.

"Same thing," Sirius said with a shrug, throwing a spoonful of brownie batter at him.

Lily looked around at everyone. "I'm so glad today is about getting as dirty as possible."

"Oh Lils," Sirius said, "You will _always _be dirty in my mind." Lily squeezed whipped cream so it would hit Sirius square in the mouth so he couldn't talk.

"I'm not the one who spent the whole night taking a shower," James said, looking at Sirius.

"Looks like I'll have to take another one," Sirius said, putting his arms around Lucie and looking down at her. "Wanna join me?" Lucie laughed and gave Sirius a kiss.

"And before you make me throw up, it's time for us to leave," Lily said, hopping off the counter and linking arms with James. "See you guys around."

"It was nice meeting you Lucie," James said, exiting the kitchens with Lily.

Lily looked up at James as they walked through the hallways. "I liked her, she was nice, perfect for Si."

"Yeah, he seems to really like her," James noted. "I've never seen him like this."

"Covered in brownie batter and whipped cream?" Lily joked.

"No," James said, rolling his eyes. "All happy and smiley because of a girl."

"Smiley?" Lily questioned, raising her eyebrows.

"Oh, you know what I mean," James said, giving Lily a kiss.

"Yeah," Lily said, wrapping her arm around James's waist. "He's definitely all smiley."

* * *

"Finally, it's just us girls," Gigi said, leaning back on the couch, putting pink nail polish on her fingers. 

Kacie looked up from her magazine. "Well _I'm _not the one always spending time with my boyfriend."

Lily and Gigi grinned sheepishly. "Well, let's appreciate our non-testosterone night," Lily suggested.

Gigi grinned from ear to ear and went into Lily's room and took out some wine. "Let's have some fun."

Lily looked up and groaned. "The last time 'we had some fun,' you ended up throwing up all night, and I ended up not remembering half the night."

"Oh c'mon," Gigi whined. "It's just three bottles."

"Hey…that's a bottle for each of us," Lily said.

Gigi tilted her head and smiled. "Aw, and they say you're the smart one."

"Hey girls, what's going on?" Remus asked, walking in with James.

All three girls groaned as they walked in. James looked at them. "Well, _that's _an interesting way to say hello."

"This is supposed to be a _girl's _night," Gigi said.

"Does that mean you'll get naked, play Twister, and have pillow fights?" a voice said, entering after Remus and James.

Gigi growled when she saw Sirius walk in and lean against the wall with Peter close behind him. "Is that what you do on a guy's night in?" Gigi asked.

Sirius grinned. "No we drink alcohol and talk about how much we hate you."

"Well good, because that's what _we _were going to do," Gigi said.

James looked at them. "You're drinking?"

"If you leave us alone," Gigi said.

"The last time you drank, you threw up all night, woke up with a major hangover, and snogged-" Remus started.

"Don't say it," Gigi warned, cutting him off with anger in her eyes. Gigi didn't dare look at Sirius who was staring intently at the ground.

"So…bye!" Kacie said enthusiastically.

"I _really _have the feeling they don't want us here," James said.

"Go hang out with your girlfriends," Gigi suggested.

"That's what I _came _to do," James noted. Lily just gave him a sheepish grin and blew him a kiss.

"Okay, so have a guy's night," Kacie said with a shrug.

"But that means we have to find a bunch of pillows and get out our Twister game," Peter joked.

The boys laughed as they exited the room. Sirius slyly glanced over his shoulder at Gigi who was blowing on her fingernails and looking at Sirius out of the corner of her eye.

* * *

"Wine is _gooood_," Lily slurred with a laugh. 

"I can't believe we drank two bottles of wine," Kacie said, lying on the table and looking up at the ceiling, arms hanging over the side.

Gigi raised the last bottle. "Wanna start on the last one?"

"Are you _trying _to make us throw up?" Lily asked.

"Hey, I have an idea…" Kacie said slowly, sitting up. "Wanna play Twister?"

"If only the boys were here to hear you say that," Gigi said.

"No, I'm serious," Kacie said.

"And are we supposed to have a pillow fight later?" Gigi asked.

"Just so we get this straight, I am _not _getting naked," Lily said, getting up and going to her room.

"Where are you going?" Gigi cried out.

"To get Twister!" Lily yelled over her shoulder.

"Damn, the boys are _really _missing out," Gigi said under her breath.

Lily came back and started spreadingthe Twister matout. "Move back the couch so we have more room." Lily started pushing back the couch, taking the cushions off. "OH MY GOSH!" Lily screamed.

Gigi and Kacie jumped up. "What? What?"

Lily showed them something in the air. "I found this _bra _in the couch."

Gigi and Kacie exchanged glances. "So…wash it," Kacie suggested, obviously not getting it.

"It's not mine!" Lily cried out.

"Uh oh,"Kacie muttered.

"Okay, well let's not jump to conclusions…"Gigi said slowly.

"That asshole had sex with someone else on my couch!" Lily cried out, throwing the bra on the ground angrily.

"That would be jumping to conclusions," Gigi said.

"And technically it's not _your _couch, you share the couch with James," Kacie said. Lily put her hands on her hips and glared at Kacie. "But to hell with technicalities!"

"I am _so _gonna kill him!" Lily cried out, stomping out of the room.

Gigi bit her lip and Kacie gulped. "This can't be good," Kacie said to Gigi.

"Not at all," Gigi said and then paused. "Wanna go watch?"

"Hell yeah."

* * *

"JAMES HAROLD POTTER!" Lily screeched, shoving the door open and storming in. 

Remus, Sirius, Peter, and James all immediately stopped what they were doing and looked up at Lily. "Hi honey," James said nervously.

"Now would probably be a good time to say _nothing_," Remus whispered.

"Hmm…do you think she's mad?" Sirius asked, taking a drink of firewhiskey. Remus, Peter, and James all gave him a 'duh' look. "Yeah, you're right…she's probably just pretending."

"Who the _hell _do you think you are?" Lily screamed.

Kacie and Gigi poured through the door. "Did we miss anything?"

"Nothing really," Sirius whispered. "Lily's just about to beat James up."

"Got any popcorn?" Kacie asked, sitting down on Sirius's bed.

"You had sex with some other girl!" Lily screamed.

"Last year? Yes, you're right, I did," James said.

"Do _not _get smart with me," Lily snapped. "I _know _you had sex with a girl on our common room couch!"

"You are the _man!_" Sirius cried out. Both James and Lily turned their heads slowly to glare are Sirius. "And I'm gonna shut up now."

"How _could _you!" Lily cried out.

"Well, you see Lily. When a girl and a guy-" Sirius was cut off by Lily's death stare. "Oh c'mon, you and I both knew I wasn't gonna shut up."

"I didn't do anything!" James cried out, standing up and facing Lily.

Lily glared at him and then turned to her friends. "Can you guys leave us alone?"

"Whatever you say to James, you can say to us," Peter said.

"Yeah, he'll just tell us anyway," Sirius said with a shrug.

"Get out guys," James said, not taking his eyes off Lily.

"Well how _rude_," Sirius said. "All we ask is that you guys let us watch you two yell and scream at each other during a personal fight."

"Come on Si," Remus said, practically pulling him out of the room.

"Fine, we'll leave," Sirius said. "But you should know that we will be listening right outside that door."

"SIRIUS!" Remus exclaimed, pulling him.

"Fine, fine," Sirius said, but then turned to James. "Could you do one thing for the people who love you most?"

James sighed. "What?"

"Talk loud and annunciate!" Sirius exclaimed.

"OUT!" James cried out, shutting the door behind them.

"I _hate _you!" Lily cried out the moment the door was fully closed.

James put out his hand to stop her and went to the door. He opened it to find his five friends with their ears up close to it. "We're not doing what you think we're doing," Gigi said guiltily.

"Looks like you're trying to listen to our conversation," James said.

"Oh…then yeah, it's ex_actly _what you think we're doing," Gigi said as they all walked down the stairs and out of sight.

James shut the door and looked up at Lily. "I can_not _believe you think I'd cheat on you," James said.

"Why not?" Lily asked, crossing her arms across her chest. "You cheated on Nancie with me."

"That is _totally _not the same thing!" James cried out. "Nancie and I were never officially dating! And I didn't care for her half as much as I cared for you!"

"Who _else _would have sex on our common room couch!" Lily shouted.

"Oh I don't know...perhaps YOU!" James cried out.

"I haven't had sex with anyone besides you…I'm not a fucking player like you!" Lily screamed.

"Don't throw that in my face! I haven't been a player since sixth year!" James cried out. "It was Nancie and then you!"

"Don't you mean Nancie _and _me at the same time!" Lily exclaimed.

"Oooh, I like that mental image," James said slowly.

"OH MY GOSH!" Lily cried out, putting her hands on her head and shaking it. "You are _unbelievable_."

"Why thank you," James said with a grin.

"Not in bed!" Lily shouted. "James, I found a _bra _in our couch!"

"It's not mine!" James cried out. "Well…duh."

Lily glared at him.

"I _swear _it doesn't belong to any girl I had sex with!" James cried out

"I _knew _I shouldn't have let my guard down! I _knew _I shouldn't have had sex with you! I _knew _I shouldn't have let myself like you, and I _can't _believe I got in a relationship with you! You will never change!"

"I didn't have sex with anyone else!" James cried out. "Why can't you trust me!"

Lily just shook her head and wiped her eyes, hoping James wouldn't see her crying. Lily started walking towards the door. "I hope you have a nice life James."

"That's it?" James asked, taking a step closer towards her. "You're not even going to try and believe me?"

"The first time I trusted you James, you kissed me and then went back to Nancie. The second time I trusted you, you had sex with me and then left the school. And the third time I trusted you, you caused a stupid fight with me over my hanging out with Sirius and then lied about Nancie being in your room," Lily said, not even caring that the tears were falling.

"Lily, I-" James started.

Lily put her hand up to stop him from talking. "Don't," Lily said tiredly. "Just don't." And with that, Lily exited the room.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

_GASP! lily and james broke up? sirius has a girlfriend? what has the world come to?_

_review to find out what happens next! _


	24. Sign Language, Secret's Out, & Rat Food

**_Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 24_**

_I AM SOOOOOOO SORRY THAT THIS IS SO LATE! MY INTERNET BROKE FOR AWHILE AND THERE WAS NO WAY TO UPDATE...don't hate me too much. Alright, because I know you've been waiting a long time for this...let's just get on with it._

_disclaimer: yup, i'm JK Rowling. and i'm also married to the Pope._

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"Guys! I'm _fine!_" Lily cried out. "Stop asking."

"If you're fine, then why are you reading your book upside down?" Gigi asked.

Lily looked at her book and sighed. She closed it and placed it on the table and lay back on the couch while letting out another sigh. "I'm fine-ish."

"That's not fine," Kacie said.

"Well, it's fine with an ish," Lily snapped. The girls gave her a look. "Okay, maybe I'm not fine. But I'll be fine. It's only been a week. Give me time."

"You've gone through three boxes of tissues," Kacie said. "You're gonna run out of money before you're fine."

Lily cracked a smile. "I just wish he changed, ya know?"

"We understand," Kacie said, draping her arm around Lily's shoulders.

"He insisted that he changed," Lily said. "Told me that, told you guys that, even told Sirius, Remus, and Peter that. But it was all a big lie."

"Lily," Gigi said. "Did you ever think that maybe he wasn't lying?"

Lily jerked her head to look at Gigi. "Are you calling _me _a liar?"

"No!" Gigi exclaimed. "But maybe there's a logical explanation for this."

"Yeah, James had sex with another girl on our common room couch. It's the only thing that makes sense!" Lily cried out.

"Maybe not," Gigi said. "Maybe-"

"Did the bra belong to you? Did you decide it was really hot in here one day and take your bra off?" Lily asked.

"No…"

"And it's not Kacie's bra," Lily said.

"How do you know?" Gigi asked.

"It was too sexy to be Kacie's," Lily said.

"I'm going to pretend that was a compliment," Kacie said.

"No other girls hang out in here!" Lily exclaimed.

"When's the last time you checked that couch? Maybe it belongs to a girl James was with before you guys got together," Gigi said with a shrug.

"Not possible," Lily said. "When I was pissed at James over winter break, I went on a whole cleaning spree and took apart that couch."

"Okay, but maybe-"

"I don't want to talk about this anymore!" Lily exclaimed, throwing her hands up. "I don't want to talk about _him_."

"Fine," Gigi said. "Let's talk about how fat you're gonna get if you keep eating ice cream and brownies."

Lily grinned and threw a brownie at Gigi.

"Or we can talk about finding you a new man," Gigi grinned.

Lily whimpered. "I don't want a new man. I want to sit here with my ice cream and brownies and—ooooh, chocolate cake! Do either of you have chocolate cake?"

"Okay, now you're sounding like Black and that just means you've truly gone to the dark side," Gigi gasped.

Lily forced out a smile.

"Okay, you don't want to talk about you-know-who, you don't want to find a new man, and you've already gone through three boxes of tissues—one of which was mine and I'd like to be paid back for it at some point-" Kacie explained.

Lily glared at her.

"Then again, I have sleeves. I'm good," Kacie snickered. "I'm just saying Lily, that you can't just hole yourself up in your room all week and hope James falls off a cliff so you can go on with your life without him."

"I can't hole myself up in my room all week; I've got class," Lily muttered. She paused."Though, your idea is sounding better and better."

"Okay, I'll find the nearest cliff and Kacie, you somehow lure James to that spot," Gigi teased.

"Y'know, you joke, but that's my Plan B," Lily stated sincerely.

"Do I dare ask what Plan A is?" Kacie asked cautiously.

"I haven't quite got all the details down yet, but I'm thinking it's gonna involve James getting eaten by a Tyrannosaurus Rex," Lily grinned.

Kacie and Gigi exchanged looks. "Um, Lily," Gigi started slowly, "You do know that in order for Plan A to take place, you'd have to have Tyrannosaurus Rex."

"I know that."

Again, Kacie and Gigi exchanged looks. "Um…and you _do _know that we don't live in the Jurassic Era, right?"

Lily paused. "Okay, back to Plan B."

Gigi sighed. "I'll go find a cliff," she muttered.

"I'll go find James," Kacie added.

Lily sighed. "No. Just find me some chocolate cake."

"Now that I can do," Gigi grinned.

* * *

Lily, Gigi, and Kacie sat in front of Defense Against the Dark Arts, pretending not to hear the Marauders walk in several minutes after them. "You guys don't have to hate them because I do," Lily whispered. 

"Don't worry, I already do," Gigi said with a grin.

"And you don't hate all of them, Lily," Kacie noted.

"No…I just don't want to be around any of them," Lily said. "Come on, we knew this was gonna happen."

"What?"

"If James and I broke up, we wouldn't associate with the Marauders anymore. They're too busy supporting James, you're too busy comforting me, I can't be around James and in association, I can't be around them. In the end, we're gonna have to find new guy friends."

"Find someone else to hang out with besides Black?" Gigi asked. "This is like the best day of my _life!_"

Lily laughed and doodled on her parchment, trying as hard as she could not to glance over at James.

Across the way, James was trying hard not to look over at Lily. "And apparently she likes chocolate cake too!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Sirius…_everyone _likes chocolate cake," Remus said. "And enough about Lucie." He glanced over at James, hoping he wasn't too bummed out of the talk of Sirius's girlfriend.

"Sorry, sorry," Sirius sulked.

"Hey boys," Tami Hilton, a seventh year Hufflepuff, said, batting her eyes and blowing them a kiss. She stopped in front of the Marauders to talk to them. "So how are you doing?"

"Great," Peter said.

"Good," Remus said.

"Wonderful," Sirius said.

They all turned to James who said nothing and was staring attentively at the desk. Sirius turned back to Tami and said,"That's sign language for magnificent."

"Not moving and spending your time staring at a wood desk means magnificent?" Tami asked.

"Okay, so maybe he didn't get very far in his sign language class," Sirius said with a shrug.

"Why isn't he sitting with Lily?" Tami asked.

All three boys bit their lips and looked at James who seemed to flinch a little. "Because he loves us guys," Sirius said, putting his arm around James. "He's big on guy bonding."

"Hang out with you guys over his girlfriend?" Tami asked, raising her eyebrows.

Remus shrugged. "We're great guys. If he had the option, he'd hang out with us all the time."

"Oh stop it. Just stop making things up! Stop censoring what you say around me! Stop treating me like a wounded puppy!" James exclaimed. "Just give it a rest!"

Tami backed up, very surprised by his outburst. "Magnificent huh?" Tami asked Sirius.

James grabbed his things and stomped out of the room. "Class starts in two minutes!" Remus cried out and then sighed when he realized James wasn't coming back.

"Where's he going?" Peter asked.

"Maybe he's going to sign language class," Tami said with a snort.

Sirius locked eyes with Lily who obviously noticed James's outburst and him stomping out. Sirius just shrugged as Lily looked back down at her parchment and started drawing on it again. "Slut," she muttered.

"No I'm not…anymore," Gigi said.

Lily sighed. "I was talking about Tami."

"Tami Hilton?" Gigi questioned.

Lily nodded. "She finds out we broke up and tries dating James a week and a half after we ended it."

"I don't think she knows," Gigi said. "In fact, I'm pretty sure no one in this school knows."

Lily looked at Gigi. "How's that possible? Marauder gossip is every girl's favorite topic of conversation."

"Well _James _certainly didn't tell anyone and you didn't tell anyone and the guys didn't tell anyone and Gigi and I didn't tell anyone-"

"Are you going anywhere with this or do I need to slap you?" Lily asked.

"I'm just saying that the secret hasn't gotten out yet," Kacie said with a shrug.

Lily looked over at Tami whispering with a bunch of seventh year girls and sighed. "Well…secret's out."

* * *

"You do realize that as Head Boy, missing class isn't a good idea, right?" Remus asked, entering the common room to see James lying down on a couch facing the ceiling. 

"And you do realize that as my best friend, you should leave me the hell alone, right?" James snapped.

"Good point," Remus said, walking past him and up to his room.

"Can I give you a word of advice?" Peter asked.

"No," James said.

"Got it," Peter said, following Remus.

James noticed Sirius sit down in a chair beside him. "You know what I like about you Padfoot?"

"My wit? My charm? My hot looks?" Sirius suggested.

"I'm not one of your fawning girls," James said.

"Oh yeah," Sirius said. "So what do you like about me?"

"How no matter how much you want to, you're not the kind of person to give me advice, tell me how to get over a girl, or make me do something supposedly fun to forget about Lily," James said.

Sirius paused. "That's me?"

James glanced over at Sirius. "I hope so."

Sirius sighed and patted his best friend on the back. "Don't get over Lily. Sulk and skip every class you have for the rest of the year. Oh, and forget strippers, Quidditch, and alcohol. Don't do anything fun to get over the girl."

"That would be considered advice," James said and then paused. "But I like it."

Sirius looked over at his friend and grew serious. He took a seat at the end of the couch and looked up at James. "You okay man?"

James attempted a smile and looked at Sirius. He took a few seconds and then said, "No."

* * *

"Wanna go down to the kitchens?" Sirius asked. 

"No," James moped.

"Wanna play exploding snaps?" Remus asked.

"No," James said with a sigh.

"How 'bout chess?" Peter suggested.

"No."

"Twister?" Sirius asked.

"Are you kidding?" Remus asked and then turned back to James. "How 'bout we do homework?"

"No," James sulked.

"Wanna get drunk and find a bunch of strippers?" Sirius asked.

"Sirius!" Remus warned.

"Yes," James said immediately.

"Quick, let's go before he changes his mind!" Peter said, grabbing his robes.

James sighed. "I was kidding. What I really want is to just stay here."

"You just want to sit here on the windowsill and stare out the window?" Peter asked.

"No," James said. "I'm also eating chocolate ice cream."

"And cookies," Remus muttered, glancing over at the plate of cookies beside James.

"Look Prongs…" Sirius said slowly.

"Don't say anything okay?" James asked. "Don't say it's for the best. Don't say this is meant to be. Don't say Lily is a bitch. Just don't say it."

"We don't have to…you said it for us," Sirius said.

"I don't wanna talk about it," James insisted.

"We understand," Peter said soothingly.

James sighed and then looked away from the window and at his friends. He didn't want to admit how hurt he was. He didn't want to admit that Lily broke his heart. He _certainly _didn't want his friends to believe that a girl could affect him so much. He turned back to look out the window right when it started to rain. "I just don't _get _her…how could she not _trust _me?"

"Is this what you call 'not talking about it?'" Remus questioned.

"You guys believe me, don't you?" James asked.

The boys exchanged glances and bit their lips shamefully. "Um…sure!" they muttered, looking anywhere but at James.

James looked at the looks on their faces. "Oh my god! You guys don't believe me?" James shouted in disbelief.

"Uh…well, Prongs," Sirius said cautiously. "This has happened before and-"

"Not recently!" James shrieked. "I'm a changed man! I don't cheat on my girlfriends anymore and _especially _not Lily! How can you guys _not _believe me? You are my _best _friends!"

"James, it's just that-" Remus started to protest.

"Forget it, Remus," James interrupted with an angry tone. He sighed. "You guys are my best friends. Why would you take Lily's side over mine?"

"Well, Lily said-" Peter started to argue but again, was interrupted.

"_Forget it_!" James shouted, glaring heatedly at them all. "If I can't depend on you guys, who _can _I depend on?"

With one last disappointed glance, he stormed out of the room.

Remus, Sirius, and Peter exchanged guilty looks. "Do you think he's telling the truth?" Remus asked.

Sirius sighed. "I wish I could say I believe him, but this is _Lily _we're talking about. When was the last time she ever lied about anything?"

Remus nodded. "Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking."

"But why would James lie to us?" Peter contemplated.

Sirius shrugged. "I think we need to get to the bottom of this."

"But how?" Remus questioned further. "James clearly doesn't want to talk about her and I'm sure if we even go _near _the girls, James will castrate us."

Sirius paused and then turned to Peter. "Oh you'll never have sex anyway. I vote you to go talk to the girls."

"Hey!" Peter cried out.

* * *

"Psst!" a voice came from behind the couch where Kacie and Gigi were sitting the next afternoon. 

Kacie and Gigi exchanged confused glances.

"_Psst!_" the voice cried louder.

Kacie looked behind the couch and rolled her eyes. "It's just Rem-"

"Don't say my name!" Remus hissed.

"If you're worried about James seeing you, he's in a meeting with Dumbledore and Lily," Gigi explained, rolling her eyes in irritation.

"Oh," Remus stated. "Well, in that case." He jumped over the couch and landed in between the girls. "I need to talk to you."

"Oh really, and I thought you were playing hide-and-seek with the rest of your cult," Gigi snickered.

"First of all, we are not a cult…no matter what those Slytherins say," Remus argued. "Second of all, if anyone asks why I was hiding behind that couch, playing hide-and-seek is _exactly _what you must tell them."

"I'm not going to lie for you," Kacie protested.

Gigi shrugged. "I will."

"Good, I'm glad you don't have morals," Remus said, "But now I need to talk to you," Remus reiterated.

"Okay, talk quickly because I'm betting Lily is attempting to speed through the meeting in order to get away from your no good, cheating, leaving evidence behind in the couch asshole of a friend," Gigi muttered.

"Hm," Remus murmured. "Are you sure James cheated?"

"When was the last time Lily lied?" Kacie responded stubbornly.

"Yes, we thought of that as well," Remus murmured. "But why would _James _lie?"

"Uh, because that's what he's done best for the past seven years," Gigi snickered.

"But he claims he's a changed man," Remus argued.

"Another lie! Man, that guy is good," Kacie muttered.

Remus sighed. "I just don't get why he would cheat on Lily. She's been the girl of his dreams for years and he finally gets her just to cheat on her with another girl? Something seems odd about that, don't you think?"

"Maybe he just wasn't satisfied with Lily," Gigi sighed.

"Yeah, this _is _Lily Evans we're talking about," Kacie added.

"That's your best friend you're talking about," Gigi said.

"Oh yeah."

Remus sighed again. "Lately James hasn't really seemed to care about…er…sexual activity. He was happier with Lily than he's ever been before. Why would he dare screw that up?"

"Maybe you should stop asking why and start asking _who_," Gigi pointed out. "I mean, until we find out who James cheated with, all we really have is Lily's word."

"But again, when was the last time Lily lied?" Kacie muttered.

"Well…technically, she just _accused_," Remus stated.

"She has proof!" Gigi shouted.

"_What?_ What kind of proof?" Remus cried out in disbelief.

"A pink lacy bra stuffed behind the couch cushions in their common room," Kacie explained in a haughty manner.

"WHAT? Why was I not told of this before?" Remus shrieked.

"Wait…you didn't know about that?"

Remus stared at Gigi. "Do I look like someone who's in the know?"

"Good point."

"And you're sure the bra's not Lily's?" Remus questioned.

"It's pink and has lace," Gigi stated matter-of-factly.

"Good point," Remus muttered. "Okay, so now all we need to do is match up that bra with another girl."

"And how exactly do you plan on doing that?" Kacie snickered. "Go up to every girl flashing that bra and ask her if she's somehow misplaced it?"

Remus paused. "Do you think that would work?"

"Oh yeah," Kacie replied. "If what you want to do is get slapped in your face multiple times."

"Oh and you'll probably get kicked in your balls a few times, too," Gigi added.

Remus paused. "Okay, so new plan."

"I thought so," Gigi laughed.

"Hmmm…so how exactly _do _we go up to each girl and ask if they left their bra in Lily and James's couch without sounding like a pervert?" Kacie asked.

They all thought about it and then Remus said, "Have Sirius do it!"

The girls laughed and Remus said, "Well, I've gotta go find Sirius and Peter and tell them of this newfound information."

"See if you can hit up some Gryffindor girls on your way," Kacie said.

Remus sighed. "My girlfriend is _so _gonna break up with me."

"Actually, if I were you, I'd go back to hiding behind the couch," Gigi whispered.

"Why? It's so cramped behind there," Remus whined.

"Because James just walked into the common room!" Gigi murmured, pointing in his direction.

"I like cramped. Cramped is good," Remus hissed, jumping over behind the couch again.

James walked over to the girls and sighed. "I know Lily would murder you in your sleep if she knew I was talking to you, but have you seen the guys? I need Remus' Herbology notes since I skipped this morning."

Kacie and Gigi exchanged looks. "I think they're playing hide-and-seek.," Kacie squeaked.

James gave them an irritated look. "The last time I checked, they weren't _five_."

"You _do _know you're friends with Black, right?" Gigi argued.

James gave her another look. "Fine, give me bullshit excuses. Not like I'm dying to speak to them anyway. I'm not exactly in the mood for them to completely go against all manhood and choose sides with…well, whatever. It doesn't matter."

"Wait…" Gigi uttered. "You…you're mad at them?"

"Why?" Kacie blurted out.

"I said it doesn't matter," James sighed. "If you see them, just tell them I'm looking for them."

"Uh…sure," Gigi said uncertainly.

"Thanks," James mumbled miserably.

Once he left, Kacie and Gigi turned to each other with confused, yet shocked, looks. "Did _you _know the Marauders were fighting?" Gigi asked wearily.

"I-I didn't think it possible!" Kacie replied.

"I know!" Gigi exclaimed. "He looked miserable, didn't he?"

"Well sure. First he lost his girlfriend-"

"His fault," Gigi murmured.

"Now he lost his best friends," Kacie sighed.

"Not sure whose fault," Gigi continued. "…I bet it's Black's."

Kacie laughed. "You don't bet it's Black. You _hope _it's Black."

Gigi grinned. "Okay, that too."

Kacie rolled her eyes and was about to protest when Remus' whispers were heard behind the couch, Kacie and Gigi feeling guilty forgetting about him.

"Psst, is it safe to come out yet?"

"Er…yeah," Gigi muttered, glancing at Kacie.

Remus hopped over the couch. "So who were you talking to before?"

"The person whose mad at you," Kacie replied with a curious look.

"What?" Remus cried out. "Which Slytherin was in our common room?"

"Remus," Gigi warned.

Remus gave tem a sheepish look. "Yeah okay, so James is pissed. He just lost his girlfriend and-"

"Why is he mad at you guys?" Kacie asked.

"You expect me to tell you two that?" Remus snickered.

"Of course," Gigi replied.

"That is, unless you want to be rat food," Kacie grinned.

"You two are mean," he pouted.

"No, we just like getting what we want," Gigi explained with a grin.

Remus snickered. "It's a wonder why you and Sirius aren't closer. You're exactly the same person."

"Except I have class….oh, and a life," Gigi sniped.

"Ahh, yes, I knew you had your differences," Remus replied, rolling his eyes.

"You do realize, we have changed the subject," Kacie pointed out.

"Yes I was aware and I'd like to keep it that way," Remus scowled.

"Talking about Sirius?" Kacie snorted. "Yeah right."

"So why's James pissed at you?" Gigi repeated.

"Gigi, I'm not-"

"Remember rat food?"

"We didn't exactly take his side on something," Remus replied immediately.

"What? He's your best friend! How can you not take his side!" Gigi shouted. "You _always _back up your friends. How are you-"

"We chose Lily's side."

"You made the right choice," Gigi said immediately.

Kacie laughed, ignoring the annoyed look on Remus' face. "Why did you take Lily's side?"

Remus shrugged. "Because it makes more sense. I mean, like we pointed out before, Lily doesn't lie and James…well he's cheated before."

"Yeah," Kacie murmured. "I just wish they could work things out."

"Well, once we figure out whose bra that is, we'll be closer t-" Gigi started.

"Once '_we' _figure out? What's this we you're talking about? There's no we!" Remus complained.

"You don't want to help Lily and James?" Gigi pouted sadly.

"We'll start with the Ravenclaws," he replied immediately.

"How exactly are we going to do that?" Kacie argued. "Do you _know _how many girls are in this school?"

"Of course. At one point or another, they have all been in my room," Remus snickered.

"Oh please, you have not dated them all," Kacie snickered.

Remus gave her a look. "Yes but Sirius and James live in my room and _have _dated them all."

"That's a good point," Kacie laughed.

"Pigs," Gigi murmured.

"You realize you were the same way before this year, right?" Remus snickered.

Gigi paused. "They're still pigs."

Remus laughed. "I'll make sure they know it."

"Oh they already know," Gigi pointed out. "They _are _James and Black."

Remus rolled his eyes.

"Shit, get behind the couch!" Kacie hissed.

"Wha-"

"Lily just walked in!" she whispered in a frenzied tone.

Gigi shoved Remus over the couch without getting a response from him. "Oof!" he replied, landing on his back.

"Hey Lil!" Gigi greeted. "Let's go to your room."

"No way, I don't want to risk running into you-know-who."

"Okay, let's…uh…let's go to the kitchens!" Kacie stepped in.

"Yeah the kitchens!" Gigi chimed in.

"We just had lunch like an _hour _ago."

"Well you know me, always hungry," Kacie replied with a nervous chuckle.

"Well you go ahead. I'll stay here," Lily said with a sigh.

"No!" they both shouted.

"Er…what we mean is…er…how about the Quidditch pitch?"

"Why would I want to go there?"

" Uh…because Quidditch is fun?" Gigi suggested.

"You don't know me at all," Lily laughed.

"Okay, not the kitchens or the Quidditch pitch. Uh…ooh! Astronomy Tower!" Gigi cried out.

"Okay, just because Potter and I are broken up does _not _mean I want to make out with you, Gigi," Lily laughed.

"Let's just…er…let's just go for a walk," Kacie suggested.

"A walk?" Gigi repeated in disbelief, giving Kacie a look. "Why would Lily-"

"A walk sounds good," Lily sighed.

"I knew you'd love it!" Gigi cried.

Kacie gave her a look.

"I mean…let's go."

* * *

"James wasn't lying," Remus exclaimed, bursting into his room where Sirius and Peter were. "And there are four Gryffindor girls after me." 

"Oh Remus, you're not that hot," Sirius said.

"No, they're angry at me," Remus explained.

"Why?" Peter dared to ask.

"Because I asked them if they owned a pink lacy bra," Remus said. He stared at the quizzical stares of his friends. "What? That's a perfectly reasonable question!"

"Yeah…if you're _Sirius_," Peter noted.

"And there's a process," Sirius explained. "You can't just go up to a girl and ask her if she owns a certain bra. You have to make up a reason _why _you're asking. Like you're doing a survey for Muggle Studies or-"

Sirius was cut off by the blank stares on his friends faces.

"Oh like you thought I hadn't tried it before," Sirius said.

"And how many times did you get slapped?" Peter asked.

"Oh I don't get slapped, I get dates," Sirius said.

"Some guys have it all," Peter muttered, shaking his head annoyingly.

"The bra belongs to James," Remus explained.

"Whoa…that should go on the list of things you _don't _need to know about your best friend," Sirius said.

"No! The bra belongs to the girl James had sex with. Lily found it," Remus explained. "Do I have to explain _everything _around here?"

"Yes," Peter and Sirius said immediately.

"So what are we gonna do about this?" Peter questioned.

"We? What's with the we? I am tired of all the we's!" Remus cried out.

Sirius paused. "So what are we gonna do about it?"

"I need to be with my girlfriend! I've already stalked four girls and I'm _done_," Remus noted.

"Oh c'mon she's not really into you," Sirius said.

"Why?"

"Because she's met _me_," Sirius said obviously. Remus rolled his eyes at Sirius and Sirius continued talking. "Plus, if you spend too much time with you, she'll find out you're a werewolf."

Remus paused to think about that. "Well, the girls and I came up with this plan to ask every girl in the school if they own a pink lacy bra," Remus said.

"That is the _stupidest _plan I've ever heard," Peter said.

"I'll get right on it," Sirius said, getting up from the bed.

"By the way, where did Lily _find _that bra?" Peter asked.

"In Lily and James's common room couch," Remus said with a shrug.

Sirius froze. "Uh oh."

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_REVIEW! my internet is still being kinda funny but hopefully i can get on soon enough to update!_


	25. Irresistible, Plan B, & Red Nail Polish

**_Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 25_**

_yay for my computer NOT being broken and therefore for me able to post sooner! _

_disclaimer: PLEASE tell me you kno I'm not J.K. Rowling_

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"He didn't do it!" Sirius cried out, rushing into Lily and James's common room. 

Gigi and Kacie looked up. "What?"

"Oh," Sirius said. "Where's Lily?"

"In her room."

"Doing what?"

"Having a huge party and making out with her new boyfriend," Gigi said sarcastically. "What do you _think _she's doing?"

"Homework?"

"She hasn't done homework for two weeks," Kacie said. "And what's with this 'he didn't do it' stuff?"

"Nothing," Sirius said quickly. Sirius walked past the two girls and knocked on Lily's door.

"Go away!" Lily called out.

"I'm gonna pretend that's how you say come in," Sirius said, entering the room.

"Don't you knock?" Lily cried out.

"I did."

Lily paused. "Oh yeah." Lily sighed. "I haven't seen you for two weeks. What the hell are you doing here?"

"He didn't do it," he said.

"Who didn't do what?" Lily asked tiredly.

"It wasn't James who had sex on that couch and that bra didn't belong to a girl James is involved with," Sirius said.

"Sirius, I don't want to talk to you about this okay?" Lily said. "In fact, I don't want to talk to you at all." Sirius ran his hands through his hair and opened his mouth to speak but Lily cut him off. "Stop doing that! Stop running your hands through your hair! You're not cool!"

Sirius looked at her, obviously stunned. "What's wrong?"

Lily got off her bed and threw her books down. "You don't look cool when you do that, the girls don't like it, and you have a girlfriend, so stop trying to impress people!"

"Do you want me to bring James in here so you can yell at the person you _really _want to yell at?" Sirius asked.

Lily sighed and sat back down. "I can't be around you," she said quietly.

"Because I'm so irresistible?" Sirius said, flashing a grin.

Lily gave him a look and glanced down at her hands. "You remind me of him."

"I understand," Sirius said. "But the bra belongs to Lucie."

"Say what?" Lily asked.

"Remus was in our room, Peter was in the astronomy tower, and you and James were in Hogsmeade," Sirius said with a shrug. "This was the only place I could think of to go so Lucie and I were in here about a week ago."

"You had _sex _on my common room _couch!_" Lily shrieked.

"No, no!" Sirius cried out. "We were just fooling around! No sex."

Lily laughed evilly. "You expect me to believe that?"

Sirius hesitated. "You're right, that didn't sound like me," Sirius claimed. "But I'm being serious. We were just fooling around and…well…yeah, the bra belongs to Lucie."

"Let me get this straight," Lily said. "I broke up with James because of _you_? James and I aren't together because of _you?_ I've been miserable for the past two weeks _because of you?_"

"Hey! Don't forget about Lucie…" Sirius said slowly.

Lily threw her hands up in frustration. "Okay, now I _definitely _can't be around you," Lily said.

"Because I'm irresistible right?" Sirius said.

"No because you are a complete jerk!" Lily cried out.

"An irresistible jerk!" Sirius shouted over his shoulder as Lily pushed him out of her room.

"I couldn't help overhearing," Gigi said.

"Yes you could," Sirius said.

Gigi paused. "Well that's true," Gigi said.

"What exactly did you overhear?" Sirius asked, placing his hands on his hips.

"Everything," Gigi said. Kacie hit her on the shoulder. "Okay, only the last few minutes of it." Kacie slapped her again. "Okay, only the last thing you said." She turned to Kacie. "Happy?"

"Well I suppose in general, I'm a happy person but-" Kacie started.

"Shut up."

Sirius ignored Kacie and Gigi's banter and turned to Gigi. "So basically all you heard was that I'm an irresistible jerk?" Gigi nodded. "Giliba, you already _knew _that."

"Jerk…yes. Irresistible…ha!" Gigi exclaimed.

"Get out!" Lily shouted, poking her head out of her bedroom door.

"As much as we love you Black, Lily wants you to-" Gigi started.

"You don't love me."

Gigi paused. "Oh right. Then it makes it easier to say _get out_," Gigi said with a smirk. "Wow, it's so nice that finally someone _else _wants you gone."

Sirius gave her a smug look and sauntered out of there. Kacie turned to Gigi. "Don't you wanna know _why _she's so angry at Sirius?"

Gigi thought about it. "WAIT BLACK…GET BACK HERE!"

Kacie smirked. "I have a feeling that is the _only _time you will ever be saying that."

"Hey Kace?" Gigi questioned.

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

Sirius poked his head back into the room. "You called?"

"Why is Lily angry at you?"

"Like I'd tell you," Sirius snapped.

"Oh c'mon!"

"No."

Gigi gave him her puppy eyes and pouted her lips. "Pleeeeease?"

Sirius smiled wide. "Get on your knees and beg and _then _maybe I'll tell you."

Gigi narrowed her eyebrows and tightened her lips. "You're loving this, aren't you?"

"Not particularly," Sirius said with a shrug. "But do you mind if I go get my tape recorder? And the guys for witnesses? And-"

"GET OUT!" Lily screamed.

Gigi laughed. "And _I'm _loving _this_."

"Okay, fun moment over," Sirius pouted, exiting the room.

Kacie turned to Gigi. "You didn't find out what he did to Lily."

"Damnit!"

* * *

"Calm down," Kacie explained.

"I'm the worst person ever!" Lily cried out.

"Breathe," Kacie said.

"No _wonder _he hates me!" Lily burst out.

"Sit!" Kacie commanded.

Lily started pacing and turned to Kacie. "You can't talk to me like I'm a dog."

"Stay!" Kacie ruled.

Lily looked at Kacie and sat down on the couch. "Fine…but I want a treat."

Kacie laughed. "Look Lils, he'll understand. It's _his _fault he's best friends with such a pig."

Lily leaned back on the couch. "I hate myself."

"To be fair, I bet James hates you too," Kacie said. Lily glared at her. "Damn, I bet you wish you had a helpful friend right now."

"Okay, I discovered all the girls the bra does _not _belong to," Remus said, entering the room. "Oh…hi Lily."

Lily looked from her two girl friends to Remus. "Do I even _want _to know?"

"Um…forget it, never mind," Remus said quickly, starting to leave.

"Remus!" Kacie called out. "We _know _who the bra belongs to."

"What?" Remus exclaimed. "I've been going around asking girls if they owned a pink lacy bra, getting slapped across the face eleven times, and completely embarrassing myself for _nothing?" _

"You did _what?_" Lily cried out. "So _you're _the guy every Gryffindor girl is calling a pervert and is plotting to kill."

"Wow," Remus said. "Girls really hate being bluntly asked if they own a pink lacy bra."

"The bra belongs to Sirius," Kacie said.

Remus paused. "So all this time, I should have been asking the _boys _if they owned a pink bra." Remus paused again. "Wait…Sirius owns a bra? I thought he was a guy. I mean all the girls seem to love him." Remus looked around. "Where's Gigi when you need to ask her a question?"

The girls laughed as Remus continued talking. "So what do you mean it belongs to Sirius?" Remus asked, sitting down on the arm of the couch

"More correctly, it belongs to Lucie," Lily mumbled, not even looking up.

Remus's mouth dropped open. "Lucie? _Sirius's _Lucie? Sirius and Lucie on this couch?" Remus looked down and immediately jumped up. "Ew!"

"They were just fooling around, they didn't have sex," Lily muttered.

Remus burst out laughing and couldn't stop laughing until he saw the serious look on Lily's face. "Oh my god, you're serious. But Sirius not having sex with a girl is like…Peter _having_ sex with a girl!"

"So you didn't know this?" Kacie asked.

"If I knew about this, do you _honestly _think I'd go around school asking any girl who passes my way—okay any girl who passes my way who's a C-cup—if they own a misplaced lacy pink bra?"

"How do you tell from just looking at a girl if they're a C-cup?" Kacie asked.

"I'm a guy. I just know these things," he replied.

Both girls gave him a look.

"Okay, Sirius taught me," he laughed. "Oh, and if you two ever need to know how to swallow an entire chocolate cake whole, I can help you with that, too."

Both girls laughed.

Remus stopped to think. "So…does James know the bra belongs to Lucie?"

Remus and Kacie slowly turned to Lily. Lily groaned and looked down at her hands. "No."

"Are you gonna, oh I don't know, _tell _him?" Remus asked.

"No, I was hoping that if I yelled at him enough for cheating on me he'd start to believe it," Lily said, biting the fingernail of her thumb.

"That's the dumbest idea I've ever heard," Remus said.

"Even dumber than asking every girl that goes to this school if she owns a pink lacy bra?" Lily retorted.

"Touché," Remus said.

"Hey guys, have you seen Remus?" Sirius asked, walking into the room.

"Nope, haven't seen him at all," Remus responded with a laugh.

"Oh, hey," Sirius said.

"So what's wrong with _your _bed?" Remus asked, cutting to the chase.

Sirius sighed and turned to Lily. "You told him?"

"Actually, _Kacie _told him," Lily said.

"So you told _her_?" Sirius corrected.

"Oh of course I told her," Lily said with a growl.

"So…you still mad at me?" Sirius asked cautiously.

"I'm not mad. Just annoyed that this had to happen."

"Did I mention that I was sorry?" Sirius asked.

"No, actually you never said that," Lily said.

"Oh," Sirius said. "Are you sure? Because when I came to tell you that truth, I'm pretty sure a sorry slipped in."

"No Sirius, it never slipped in," Lily said.

"Oh," Sirius said. "Are you totally sure? Because-"

"All you said was that you are irresistible," Lily said.

"In Sirius talk, that's 'I'm sorry,'" Remus noted.

Sirius pointed to Remus. "That's true!" Lily just gave him a blank stare. "I'm sorry…for everything."

"It's fine," Lily mumbled. "Now, can everyone leave the room so I could be alone?"

"You want us to find James and tell him to come here?" Remus asked. Lily looked up at glared at him. "I'll take that as a no."

"You know what you should do," Sirius said.

"What?" Lily asked with a sigh.

"Go to the kitchens."

"Why?" Lily questioned.

"Because you're hungry," Sirius said with a shrug.

"No I'm not," Lily said.

"Oh, well Remus is," Sirius said.

"No I'm not," Remus said. Sirius kicked him. "OW! Oh, yeah…I'm hungry."

"But look, he's hurt," Sirius said. "He can't walk down himself."

Lily got up. "Fine, I'll get you food. Partly because I want to take a walk. But mostly because I want to get away from all you lunatics."

When Lily was gone, Remus turned to Sirius. "Okay, tell me why you sent Lily to the kitchens and why you had to kick me to make her do so."

"There's no real reason," Sirius said with a shrug. "Besides the fact that I saw James walk to the kitchens right before I came in here."

"You are evil," Kacie said and then grinned. "I like that."

"Yes, it's one of my greater qualities," Sirius bragged.

"Do those qualities include how to tell the bra size of a girl just by looking at her and eating a chocolate cake whole?" Kacie snickered.

Sirius turned to Remus and gasped. "You _told _her about that? That was mentioned in secret!"

"Sirius, you screamed it out in a bar while you were drunk," Remus pointed out. "That's not so secret."

"Clearly we have different views on what _secret_ means," Sirius pouted.

"And clearly one of us is an idiot," Remus snickered. "And I'm talking about the guy who caused a break-up because of his sexual activity on a couch that wasn't in his common room."

Sirius paused. "Any chance that could be you?"

"Nope."

"Well I sent her to the kitchens! I'm fixing it!"

"Sending her to the kitchens in _hopes _she'll run into James in order for you to avoid confrontation is taking the easy way out," Remus pointed out.

"In an attempt to _fix it_!"

"You coward."

"I may be a coward but at least all the Gryffindor girls aren't after me," Sirius snickered. "I'm assuming that's why you're hiding out here?"

"Of course," Remus admitted with a laugh. "Those girls can be vicious!"

"I know. I'm one of them," Kacie chuckled. "By the way, I think there's a wanted poster in the Gryffindor commons room with your head on it. Just warning you."

Remus scowled and turned to Sirius. "I blame you!"

"And that's my cue to leave," he said sheepishly.

* * *

Later that night, Sirius sauntered into the Gryffindor commons room where Remus, Peter, and Kacie were sitting in the middle of the room on one of the couches.

"Hey guys, what's up?" he asked, grabbing a pillow and sitting in the floor in front of them.

They all exchanged looks.

"Hm, my guess is something's wrong," Sirius claimed.

"Well…Lily didn't end up going to the kitchens," Kacie explained.

"Yeah, she didn't end up running into James," Remus continued.

"And I haven't eaten since breakfast," Peter added.

They all stared at him.

"Okay, that has nothing to do with Lily and James but I'm hungry and just thought I'd add it in."

They all rolled their eyes. "So what's your next plan, Sirius?" Remus asked

"Hm…okay, we need to figure out a way to get them in the same room together at the same time," Sirius contemplated.

"_Or_," Remus interjected. "You could, oh I don't know, tell James yourself!"

"Hmm," Sirius thought out loud. "Okay, we'll call that Plan B."

"No! Sirius, this is _your _fault and you need to tell him!" Remus argued.

"It's almost as if you _want _me to die," Sirius said sadly.

"Well if you don't tell James soon, _I'm _gonna kill you!" Remus cried.

"Okay, now I'm _sure _you want me to die."

"Sirius, what happens when he finds out the truth from someone else? He'll hate you even more."

"I disagree."

"You just hate confrontation."

"Yes I do," Sirius laughed.

Remus gave him a look. "Sirius, if-"

"Oh look it's Lily!" Sirius cried out, giving Remus a look of warning.

Lily walked over to them and took a seat beside Sirius. "Hey guys. Thank God it's Friday."

"Yeah," they all chorused.

Lily gave them a strange look. "Lemme guess. You were talking about me and James."

"Now what would give you an idea like that?" Kacie cried.

"We would never do such a thing!" Peter agreed.

"We weren't talking about you guys, we swear!" Remus urged.

"James who?" Sirius snickered.

Lily gave them all a look.

"Okay, so maybe we were talking about you a _little_," Remus admitted.

"Yeah, your name _may _have come up," Sirius said with a shrug.

"And perhaps James's name was mentioned," Kacie said.

"And that shirt doesn't match your shoes," Peter said.

They all gave him a look.

"Just thought I'd add that in, too," Peter said with a sheepish grin.

Lily ignored Peter altogether. "Well I haven't figured out what to do yet, so don't ask me," Lily warned.

"Of course!" they all chorused again.

They all sat there in silence for what felt like eternity before Sirius spoke up. "So what are you gonna do, Lily?"

"SIRIUS!" they all shouted.

"I feel ganged up on," he pouted.

Kacie smacked him with a pillow.

"OW!"

"You deserved that," she pointed out.

"Yeah I probably did," he responded. He paused. "What did I do?"

Kacie smacked him again.

"OW!"

"I think…I think I just need to be by myself, guys," Lily sighed. "I'll find you later."

"You sure you don't need a friend?" Kacie asked just to make sure.

"Yeah, I'm sure," she replied. "But thanks."

Once she had left, with a rather defected look on her face, the remaining friends all exchanged sympathetic glances.

"So…does Giliba know?" Sirius asked cautiously after a long moment of silence.

"About what?" Kacie asked.

"About the bra being Lucie's," he explained.

"Oh my God, I don't think she does!" Kacie exclaimed. "She's been so busy with Jesse she hasn't been around lately. She still thinks James cheated on Lily!"

Sirius tried to ignore the part about Jesse and said, "You'd think Lily would have told her about it by now."

"Well it's not like she'd know who Lucie is," Kacie muttered.

"What do you mean?" Sirius inquired further.

"Well, Gigi doesn't exactly know that you two are…er…in a relationship," Kacie explained.

"What? Why? It's been almost a month now! How could she not know?"

"Well, like I said, she's been spending so much time with Jesse and…well, it hasn't come up," Kacie said with a shrug.

"Why haven't you told her?" he asked curiously.

"Well it's not exactly something you just briefly mention in a conversation," Kacie pointed out. "'Hey, Gigi, how's your day, how's Jesse, by the way Sirius has a girlfriend, and have you done the Transfiguration essay yet?'"

"Well I figured her friends are friends with my friends. It would slip or come up," Sirius said and then he paused. "And have _you _done the Transfiguration essay yet?"

"Why do you care so much?" Kacie asked curiously.

"Because it's due tomorrow and I haven't started it," Sirius said.

Kacie gave him a look. "Why do you care so much about _Gigi?_"

"I don't care. This is Giliba we're talking about. I could care less."

Kacie shrugged. "You're awfully curious for someone who doesn't care."

"Am not," he argued.

"Whatever you say," Kacie snickered, rolling her eyes and giving Remus an all-knowing look.

* * *

"I didn't realize you knew how to sneak into Hogsmeade," Gigi said to Jesse, tightening her hand around his hand.

Jesse grinned. "There's so much you have to learn about me."

"I know enough," Gigi said. "You know how to sneak into the kitchens. You know how to sneak into Hogsmeade. And you're dating me. You're a pretty smart guy."

Jesse smiled and kissed Gigi on the lips and soon after they were seated at a table. Jesse reached over and placed his hand on Gigi's who smiled at him. She laced her fingers between his and said, "So I haven't seen my friends much recently…I blame you."

Jesse laughed. "You make it seem as if I kidnap you from them every night."

"You pretty much do!" Gigi cried out with a laugh. "It's either hang out with you or hang out with them discussing whether pink nail polish is better than red nail polish. Which is a stupid discussion…because everyone knows the red nail polish is better!"

Jesse grinned at her and Gigi returned the smile. "Plus when I'm with you, I get to snog someone," Gigi teased.

"I have no objection to you snogging the girls," Jesse said with a teasing smirk. Gigi flicked a little bit of water at him from her water cup which resulted in him flicking water back which resulted in the waiter giving them a nasty look as he came to ask them for their drink order.

"I'll have a-" Gigi stopped mid sentence.

"Gi?" Jesse asked.

"Water's fine with me," Gigi said distractedly, not taking her eyes off a certain person. She couldn't believe her eyes; in fact, she had to rub them twice to make sure she was seeing things right.

"Gi? You okay? You seem distracted…" Jesse said.

Gigi was staring at Sirius wrapping his arms around some girl's neck and kissing her.

"Gillian!" Jesse cried out.

That snapped Gigi out of it. "Huh?"

"Do you want any bread?"

Gigi looked back at him. "I'll be right back."

"Is that a yes?" Jesse called out after her, utterly confused.

"What the hell are _you _doing here?" Gigi hissed, pulling Sirius by his arm and bringing him away from the girl and out of the restaurant so Jesse wouldn't see them talking.

"Yes, hi, I'm good, how are you?" Sirius asked. Gigi glared at him. "Not in the mood for small talk?"

"What are you _doing _here?" Gigi repeated.

It took a few seconds for it to dawn on Sirius. "Whoa…are you also eating here?"

Gigi nodded furiously. "So you have to leaveleave."

"Oh really?" Sirius asked, giving an evil smirk. "I noticed on the door that it said no shirt, no service. But no where on the door did it say, if Giliba is eating here, Sirius has to leave."

"Who the hell are you with?" Gigi said, ignoring Sirius's snide comment. "Since when have _you _brought a girl to a nice restaurant? Your policy was always, why spend so much money when you can go straight to bed. And a quality meal to you is eating bread and water by the lake."

"Are you done reprimanding me?" Sirius asked, putting his hands on his hips.

"No," Gigi said. "I didn't even realize you knew how to dress nicely. Is that a _tie _I see you wearing? Did you have to dig through all your sex clothes to get to it? Or did you steal it from Remus?" Gigi sighed. "Okay…_now _I'm done."

"I'm with my girlfriend."

Gigi choked on air and started coughing, not understanding what he just said. "Wha-what?"

Sirius said it slowly. "Girl…friend. It's a friend who's a girl…a friend you're pretty close with…one-"

"I _know _what a girlfriend is," Gigi snapped. "I just didn't realize _you _did. You've never had a girlfriend in your life! You always choked on the word and yelled at the other guys when they used the word around you! You-"

"Okay, let's not start reprimanding me again," Sirius said tiredly. "Can I get back to my girlfriend now?"

Gigi nodded weakly and Sirius walked past her. Gigi quickly turned around. "How long have you been together?"

"A month," Sirius said.

Gigi took a deep breath and leaned against the wall outside the restaurant. When she could walk again, she went back to her table. "Sorry," she mumbled to Jesse.

"What happened? Where did you go?"

"I just saw someone-" Gigi paused. "-someone I used to know." Gigi turned her head slightly to get a glimpse of Sirius giving his girlfriend a kiss on the cheek and Gigi couldn't understand why all of a sudden she had got a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach.

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_OoOoOoOoOoO Gigi found out Sirius has a girlfriend...how will she react? And what about James and Lily? Will she talk to him and will he forgive her? Or will Sirius get the guts to tell James what happened. and what's with Remus and his girlfriend?_

_review to find out!_


	26. Black Eye, Outgoingness, & Pink Ceiling

**_Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 26_**

_I'M SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG! i'm a camp counselor and that pretty much takes up all my free time in the summer... sorry, sorry, sorry! _

_disclaimer: i'm not rich, i don't live in England, and i definitely didnot write Harry Potter. anything you recognize is from JK Rowling_

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"Happy Birthday Lily!" Gigi cried out, jumping on Lily's bed.

Lily groaned and pulled the covers over her head. "I don't want to be eighteen. I like seventeen. Seventeen is good."

"Get up," Kacie said, pulling the covers off of her. "We have lots of things planned."

"Is sleeping one of them?" Lily asked.

"Nope, that didn't make the list," Gigi said.

"Wait, lemme guess," Lily said, "The list consists of presents, alcohol, and lots and lots of cake."

"Nope," Gigi said. "Presents didn't make the list either."

Lily threw her pillow at her and sat up. "I have to take a shower."

"Good," Kacie said. "That gives us plenty of time to discuss how much sleep you're _not _gonna get." Lily laughed and grabbed a towel and headed for the bathroom.

"Okay, so what did you get her?" Gigi asked, sitting down on the common room couch. "I need to make sure my present is better."

"I got her a book-"

Gigi laughed the moment she said book. "Okay, my present is _definitely _better."

"Lily _likes _to read," Kacie reminded her.

Gigi paused. "Damnit."

Kacie laughed but stopped when James entered the room. "Lily's not here, is she?" James whispered.

"She's in the shower," Gigi whispered back.

"Okay, I'm just grabbing a few things and I'll be out of your hair," James whispered.

"Okay, just one question," Gigi murmured. "Why are we whispering?"

James just rolled his eyes and went into his room.

Kacie and Gigi exchanged looks. "James?" James poked his head out of his room and glanced at Gigi. "Are you still having a party for her?"

James bit his lip and looked down at his feet. "Sirius took over."

"You're not even gonna come?" Kacie asked.

James shook his head. "She doesn't want me there."

"Yes she does," Kacie said. "She doesn't hate you but she _does _hate that she hasn't seen you for two weeks."

"Look, Sirius has it under control," James said.

"This is _Sirius _we're talking about," Kacie said. "He doesn't have _anything _under control."

"I know," James said, "That's why Remus and Peter are helping."

"You should come," Kacie urged.

"Drop it okay?"

"Oh c'mon James!" Kacie cried out. "You're the _one _person Lily cares about most and you're not gonna make it to her _birthday _party that _you _planned?"

"Why would I want to come to the birthday party of a girl who will _never _trust me no matter _how _much I insist that I've changed?" James yelled angrily.

"Because there's alcohol," Gigi said bluntly. James gave her an angry look and stomped into his room.

"He's really not gonna come," Kacie said sadly.

"Hey, speaking of Black," Gigi said.

"We weren't speaking of Sirius," Kacie said.

"Well, now we are," Gigi said. "How come you didn't tell me he had a girlfriend?"

Kacie looked nervously down at her hands. "Just slipped my mind I guess."

"That's bullshit," Gigi said.

Kacie looked up at Lily's door longingly. "Where's Lily? She's better at making up lies than I am."

"Come on Kace!" Gigi exclaimed. "They've been going out for a _month?_ Sirius having a girlfriend at _all _is a monumental thing, and no one told me!"

"Honestly Gigi, we didn't realize it would be a big deal," Kacie said with a shrug. "And it doesn't normally come up in conversation but oh! Get this, the bra we found, doesn't belong to a girl _James _was with, it belongs to Lucie!"

"So Sirius not having a girlfriend doesn't just slip into a conversation but you make room to talk about a _bra?" _Gigi asked.

"You're missing the point...it's _Lucie's _bra!" Kacie cried out.

"Oh my god! No way? It's Lucie's!" Gigi paused. "Do I _know _a Lucie?"

"Lucie is Sirius's girlfriend," Kacie said.

"James had sex with Sirius's girlfriend?" Gigi asked.

"_No_," Kacie said. "Sirius borrowed the couch for a little bit and…well yeah."

"Oh my god! That _asshole_! _He's _the reason Lily and James are broken up? Doesn't he care at _all?_" Gigi shouted.

"Who doesn't care at all?" Lily asked.

"Sirius," Kacie said, rolling her eyes. "Seems Gigi knows about Sirius having a girlfriend. And what Sirius and his girlfriend did on this couch."

Gigi looked down at the couch and jumped up. "EW! You have to burn these cushions!"

"They didn't have sex," Lily said, rolling her eyes. "They were just fooling around."

"Yeah, and apparently that tramp was naked while doing so!" Gigi exclaimed.

"You're calling Lucie a tramp for not having sex with Sirius?" Lily asked. Gigi nodded furiously. "This coming from the girl who _has _had sex with Sirius."

"Shut up," Gigi said. "Do you-" Gigi stopped mid sentence when she saw Lily get white as a ghost. James had just come out of his room.

James just glanced at Lily and zipped out of the room. Gigi turned from Lily to Kacie, who just shrugged. "So…I'm guessing _James _has no idea about the whole Sirius and Lucie thing."

Lily let out a small sob and covered her face with her hands. "This is the worst birthday ever."

"It gets worse," Gigi said. "Kacie bought you a book."

"HEY!" Kacie cried out, putting her arms around Lily and sticking her tongue out at Gigi.

* * *

Gigi entered the boys room later that day, ecstatic that James wasn't there. 

Remus looked up. "Oh, hey Gi."

Gigi stormed over to Sirius, grabbed his collar, and lifted him off his bed so he was on his feet. "You are the worst friend _ever!_"

Sirius pulled her hands off of him. "Last time I checked, you and I weren't friends."

"I'm talking about _Lily!_" Gigi cried out.

"What's going on?" Peter asked.

"I think Gigi has found out who the owner of the bra is," Sirius said, backing away from Gigi. "I didn't _mean _to break Lily and James up."

"But have you _told _him?" Gigi asked.

"Well…not exactly," Sirius said.

"I'm gonna _kill _you!" Gigi cried out.

Sirius turned to Remus. "Another person who wants me dead."

"You do know that James isn't going to the party tonight, right?" Gigi asked. The boys nodded. "And you realize that Lily is the one thing in this world that he cares most about, right?"

"I thought he cared about _me _most," Sirius said.

Gigi punched him hard in the arm. "You're gonna let your best friend sit in a room by himself and be miserable while the love of his life is having a birthday party?"

"Would this be a bad time to say yes?" Sirius asked, rubbing his arm.

"Ugh! I can't stand you! I don't get how James is best _friends _with an arrogant asshole!" Gigi burst out, throwing her hands up in frustration.

"Look!" Sirius cried out so loud, it caused Gigi to stumble backwards. "My life is not _your _life!"

"It is when you ruin the one good thing about my best friend's life!" Gigi cried out.

"NO!" Sirius shouted. "This is _my _life! What I do with my girlfriend is _my _life! What I talk to my best friend about is _my _life! Not _your _life! And right now you're trying to control me so I'd appreciate it if you'd just BACK AWAY!"

Gigi did the opposite of that and lunged at Sirius and they started wrestling on the floor. "GUYS!" Remus exclaimed, practically flying out of his desk chair, quickly followed by Peter, to try and break them up. Gigi kept punching Sirius, striking him right in the eye and then the mouth. Sirius wasn't fighting Gigi because he wanted to but mostly to defend himself.

Remus picked Gigi up with his left arm, holding her tight as she flailed her arms trying to slap Sirius. Peter held Sirius back in the corner so he couldn't run after Gigi. They both glared at each other as they breathed heavily.

"I think you should go," Remus said to Gigi.

Gigi gave one last evil glare at Sirius and stomped out. Peter turned to Sirius. "Whoa, if looks could kill, you'd be dead."

Sirius touched the blood on his lip and jerked his arm away from Peter and sauntered into the bathroom, slamming the door shut.

Remus turned to Peter. "Right now, being dead seems like a pretty good idea for him."

* * *

"SURPRISE!" 

Lily shrieked as she saw how full the room was. Lily grinned from ear to ear but when she looked around and noticed that James wasn't there, she couldn't help but frown. Lily hugged Gigi and Kacie. "Thanks guys."

"Me next! Me next!" Sirius said, jumping up and down waiting for his hug, completely ignoring Gigi's presence. Lily laughed and hugged Sirius, Remus, and then Peter.

"Whoa Si, what's with your face?" Lily asked. "And is that a black eye?"

Sirius turned away from Lily. "Yeah, I walked into a wall."

"You couldn't tell open space from a wall?" Lily questioned.

"Try the punch, it's delicious!" Sirius exclaimed, obviously wanting to change the subject.

"Spiked with some sort of alcohol I presume?"

"You know me so well," Sirius said, giving her another hug. Lily shrugged and headed towards the punch.

* * *

"Ugh," Gigi muttered, making a face at Lucie and Sirius dancing. 

Jesse turned to her. "Did you say something?"

Gigi snapped out of it and looked at Jesse. She attempted to smile. "Nope, I said nothing."

Jesse took her hand. "Wanna dance?"

Gigi gulped down the cup of punch in her hand. "Not right now. I need more punch."

Jesse took her cup. "I'll get you more." And with that, he walked away.

"Hey Gi," Remus said, joining her by leaning against the wall. "Do you-"

"A month, huh?" Gigi asked, trying to act cool.

"A month what?" Remus questioned.

"Sirius and Lucie."

Remus looked over at what Gigi was looking at. "Yeah, it's been about a month."

"I didn't think he had it in him," Gigi said. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm happy for him-"

"No you're not."

"No I'm not," Gigi responded. "To hell with him, _he _messed things up between us. I can hate him all I want."

"So that's quite a black eye you gave him," Remus said.

Gigi grinned. "He deserved it." Gigi turned to Remus. "I can't believe you didn't do it first. Or Kacie. Or _Lily_. Doesn't anyone _care _that Lily and James broke up because of that scumbag? Doesn't anyone see something wrong with Sirius being all happy with Lucie when he screwed things up between James and Lils?"

"Yeah, but what can you do?" Remus asked.

"Punch him!"

"Well, you've got that covered," Remus noted.

Gigi gulped and looked sincerely into Remus's eyes. "I just really hate the guy, ya know?"

Remus put his arm around her and patted her on the back and then whispered, "No you don't…but I'll pretend to believe you."

Gigi gave a weak smile and put her head on his shoulder, deciding that she wouldn't even try to argue with Remus. "Thanks."

* * *

"What kind of birthday girl sits in the corner sulking?" Kacie asked, coming over to talk to Lily. 

"You've got me all wrong," Lily said. "I'm standing, not sitting."

Kacie rolled her eyes. "C'mon Lils. Tryto have fun. This is an entire party...for _you_."

"I know, I know," Lily mumbled, taking a sip of the punch. "And I am having fun, I swear."

"You're the worst liar ever," Kacie said.

Lily looked her straight in the eyes. "And you're absolutely gorgeous and the best person on this earth."

Kacie looked at her. "I'm gonna pretend that's not a lie," Kacie said with a laugh.

"Whoa, two pretty girls standing in the corner? We can't have that," Sirius said, walking up to them nonchalantly.

"And now there's _three _pretty girls standing in the corner," Kacie teased.

"Don't mock me Kace," Sirius said. "I could be forced to do something I don't wanna do."

"What would that be?" Kacie asked. "Walk away?"

Sirius turned to Lily. "You're a bad influence on her. She gets those snide remarks from you."

"And you got your arrogant side from James…what's your point?" Lily asked.

Sirius paused. "Did I even have a point?"

"Probably not," Kacie noted.

All three of them looked out at the dance floor, enjoying the party. They all laughed as Peter attempted to get up on a table and dance but tripped ("I think it's time to keep Peter away from the spiked punch," Kacie noted). Lily tried hard not to look at all the couples snogging while dancing, but it was hard to turn away.

Lily turned to Sirius. "How do you do it Si?" Lily asked.

Sirius looked down at his cup of punch. "Drink punch?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "No." Lily looked at Sirius from head to toe. "You just walk into a room and have everyone stop and notice you. Smile and get every girl to fall at your heels. Run your hand through your hair and get girls to come over and talk to you. Stand tall and have every guy wishing to be you," Lily asked.

"Oh good, now his head will be even bigger," Kacie said with a groan.

Sirius grinned. "Now Lily, if I didn't know better, I'd say you're hitting on me."

"Good thing you _do _know better," Lily said.

"I've spent my whole life trying to get noticed by my family," Sirius said with a shrug. "They never cared much about me which I'm glad about now obviously, but I wasn't happy about it when I was younger. So when I came to Hogwarts, I told myself I'd do anything I had to to get people to know who I was. Plus, it helped that I had James as a friend. He was always so confident and outgoing and it rubbed off on me."

Lily nodded. "Makes sense," Lily said, and then gave Sirius a suspicious look. "Thanks, that was a pretty sincere answer."

"Plus my absolutely drop dead gorgeous looks are a huge help," Sirius said.

"I take back my 'sincere' comment," Lily said. Lily glanced over at Gigi. "Unlike you, having a confident and outgoing best friend seems to have made my life harder."

"Doesn't help that she's extremely pretty either," Kacie noted.

Sirius took a gulp of his punch and looked over at Gigi sitting with Jesse and then turned back to Lily. "But you're happy with your life, aren't you? I mean, if you all of a sudden became this over confident, really outgoing person, I'd be scared. And I'd hate it." Sirius paused. "Either that or I'd want to date you."

Lily smiled. "Don't worry, I'm not changing. I was merely wondering."

"Good," Sirius said and then saw Lucie walking over to him. "Does that mean you're not gonna date me?"

Lily smiled. "I have a feeling we're better as just friends"

Sirius thought about that. "Hmm…I've never heard that from a girl before." They all laughed. "Now if you excuse me, I'm gonna go take my confidence and outgoing-ness and go snog my girlfriend."

"Have fun with that," Lily said and then paused. "Although, I'm not sure how you _wouldn't _have fun with that." Sirius threw his head back and laughed and then sauntered away to find Lucie.

* * *

"Don't," Gigi said sharply. 

Sirius looked at her. "Don't what?"

"Come over here."

Sirius looked down at himself standing next to Gigi and grinned at her. "Too late."

"Hey, how 'bout I make your left eye match your right eye?" Gigi snapped.

"And how about I make _your_ right eye match _my_ right eye," Sirius said.

"You wouldn't punch a girl," Gigi said.

"You're right, I wouldn't," Sirius said. "I'd be punching _you_."

"Look Black-"

"You can't just go around beating people up because you're angry Giliba!" Sirius cried out.

"Oh, you're one to talk!" Gigi cried out. "You beat up Severus every damn time you see him. And what about Bellatrix? I've seen you lunge at her a few times!"

"If you beat me up every time you were angry at me, I'd be dead!"

"GOOD!"

"Nothing I do is good enough for you," Sirius argued. "I try being nice to you, and you yell at me, telling me I'm being fake. I attempt to be your friend, and you tell me you hate me. I try staying away from you, and you still somehow find a way to argue with me. I give up Giliba! I'm done with this!"

"Your idea of being nice to me is handing me the potatoes at dinner," Gigi said. "Your idea of a friend is having someone to snog. And your idea of staying away from me is hanging around with my friends so eventually I _have _to be near you."

"Hey, that is so untrue!" Sirius cried out. "Sometimes I hand you the green beans."

"You're impossible!" Gigi exclaimed. "You know what? I give up too! I've been done with this for a year and a half now!"

"You can't give up!" Sirius said. "I said it first! I give up first!"

"Okay, now we're arguing over who gave up first. This is ridiculous!"

"I'm leaving," Sirius said angrily and then turned back to Gigi. "And for the first time, _I'm _gonna be the first one to say this: stay away from me."

"If I recall, _you _came up to _me!_" Gigi said.

"Because you're standing next the punch!" Sirius shouted and then walked away in a huff. Gigi looked behind her at the punch bowl and scowled.

* * *

"You keep drinking like that and Sirius will take advantage of you," a voice said from behind Lily, watching her down yet another cup of spiked punch. 

"He wouldn't do that," Lily said.

"Here Lils, take another cup," Sirius said, handing her a huge cup of the punch.

Lily and Remus exchanged looks. "And I'm putting the punch down now," Lily said to Remus. Sirius just shrugged and walked away.

Lily shrugged at Remus. "For some reason, being drunk seems like the best idea right now."

"You want to spend your birthday throwing up?" Remus asked, raising his eyebrows.

"More like I want to spend it numb and forgetting everything," Lily said with a shrug.

Remus looked at Lily warily, deciding what to say next. "He planned the whole thing you know," Remus said.

"Huh?"

"Down to what music should be played at what time," Remus explained.

"What are you talking about?"

"James," Remus said. "He's been planning the party for a month and a half now."

"Then why didn't he come?" Lily asked, trying to hide that she wanted him there.

"When you guys broke up, he turned the party planning responsibility over to Sirius-"

"Sirius couldn't plan a thing like this without messing it up," Lily noted.

"-with Peter and I helping him," Remus said.

"That makes more sense," Lily said.

"James refused to have any part in it that past two weeks. But he was the one who planned most of it. The food, the music, the drinks, the games."

"Games?"

"Spin the bottle, strip poker, Twister, etc," Remus said, glad to get a tiny smile out of Lily.

Lily tried to hide her smile but it crept up anyway. "I'll be right back," Lily said slowly, putting her glass down.

* * *

"So…what?" Lily asked, shutting the door behind her. "You plan a party and then don't even attend?" 

James looked up and fell off of Sirius's bed. "Wha-what?"

Lily looked down at her hands, suddenly feeling self-conscious. "You planned that party for me…it's a great party by the way…and then you don't even come?"

James shrugged. "Didn't feel like it."

"Because of me?" Lily squeaked.

"Well it wasn't because of _Kacie_," James said. Lily gave him a look. "Plus, I'm not really in the mood to talk to the guys either. Not exactly the best of friends right now."

"Why?"

James just gave her a look that said he didn't want to talk about it.

"I'm sorry," Lily muttered so softly that James wasn't sure he heard.

"What?"

"I should have believed you," Lily said.

"Huh?"

Lily took a deep breath and dove into the story, "I know the bra didn't belong to a girl you had sex with. The bra I found in the couch belonged to Lucie. Sirius and Lucie were in there one night and well yeah…you figure out the rest."

James paused. "I am _so _burning that couch."

"But yeah…" Lily said trailing off. "I should have believed you and-"

"Yeah, you should have," James said softly.

"I'm so sorry," Lily said.

James nodded, getting up from the ground, and walking towards her.

Lily kept babbling on while staring at the ground, obviously getting very nervous of the encounter with James. "Something just snapped in my head when I saw the bra. I should have believed you, but the anger kept boiling up inside me. I mean, c'mon…I found a _bra _in the _couch_. How was I supposed to know it didn't belong to you. It's your couch. I just-"

And now something in James snapped, and he took quite a few steps back away from Lily. "You should have known the minute I told you it _didn't _belong to me," James exclaimed, not realizing that he'd get to upset. "You should have trusted me. God Lily! You keep telling me that you believe that I've changed but admit it, you'll _never _fully believe that I've changed! You're always gonna doubt what I say!"

"Do you blame me?" Lily cried out. "Look how you treated me for the first six years of Hogwarts! Look how you treated me for the first part of seventh year!"

"_But I've changed!_" James cried out. "Why can't you be_lieve _that?"

"Well I'm sorry!" Lily exclaimed, throwing her hands up. "I don't know what else to say."

James looked her over and finally just shrugged. "There's nothing you can say."

Lilywas taken aback by that response."Wh-what," she asked slowly, her lower lip quivering.

"I love you Lily," James said. "But I love _everything_ about you. I take your faults and understand that it's just part of who you are. I recognize that you've changed over the six years and that you're a different person. I know you're an honest person and I trust everything you say." James took a deep breath. "I just wish you'd treat me the same way."

"James, I _do _love you," Lily insisted.

"But you don't trust me?" James cried out. "And you don't believe anything I say? And you believe the worst in me, and that's it?"

"James," Lily pleaded.

James looked at her with ice in his eyes. "Do you understand how hard it was for me to try and convince you that I didn't cheat on you? I shouldn't have to try so hard to prove to you that I'm not an asshole. I just stood there trying to make you understand that I didn't _do _anything and you didn't believe a word I said. How the fuck do you think that made me feel?"

"I don't know!" Lily exclaimed desperately. "But-"

"Awful!" James shouted. "I felt like _crap! _My own girlfriend didn't believe I wasn't a cheater! My best friends didn't believe it! No matter how old I get and how much I grow up, I will still be the asshole player! And _you _out of all people don't believe that I've changed! So don't come in here trying to make up with me because you're two weeks too late! You should have believed me the _second _I told you I didn't cheat! So ex_cuse _me if I don't want to get back together with you anytime soon!"

"What was I sup_posed _to believe!" Lily cried out, tired of James reprimanding me. "Look at your past reputation! C'mon James…I had _evidence! _It was _our _couch! What was I supposed to do!"

"Believe your boyfriend!" James cried out and then lookedstraight into her eyes with anger and sadness in his eyes."Oh excuse me, your _EX-_boyfriend."

Lily couldn't even look at him anymore. She just turned on her heels and walked out. When she was gone, James plopped down on Sirius's bed, very surprised at the tear that fell out of his eye. "Happy Birthday," he whispered to the empty room.

* * *

Sirius walked into his room to grab another bottle of firewhiskey to spike the punch with when he noticed a very still James lying on Sirius's bed, staring up at the ceiling. 

"Want some company?" Sirius asked.

"No," James sighed.

"I have firewhiskey," Sirius said.

"Company sounds good," James joked, taking the bottle from Sirius.

Sirius laughed and walked over tohis bed. He sat there awkwardly for a bit while James didn't stop staring at the ceiling.

"The color of the ceiling is black…that won't change," Sirius said. "No matter how much you stare at it."

James moved his head slightly to look at Sirius and then turned back to staring at the ceiling. "What are you doing here?"

"You mean what am I doing in my own room sitting on my own bed?" Sirius asked. James gave him a look. "Right, not the time to joke." Sirius shrugged. "I'm just getting more alcohol."

James rolled his eyes. "Should have known."

"So…you wanna come down?" Sirius asked casually.

"When the ceiling turns to pink," James said.

Sirius sighed and went into his trunk to get the alcohol.

"Maybe it will turn pink with lace," James said, turning on his side and looking at Sirius.

Sirius stopped in his tracks and turned towards James. "What?"

"I'm burning that couch by the way," James said.

"We didn't have sex!" Sirius cried out.

"Okay, but she was obviously naked! Either that or she got really hot and felt like taking her bra off!" James burst out.

"What're the odds you believe it's the second one?" Sirius asked.

"Sirius!" James exclaimed, getting up from the bed.

"Look, _I know! _It was horrible and awful and because of me, things got screwed up between Lily and you!" Sirius cried out and then pointed to this eye and lip. "See these? I was punched because of the incident! So I understand what I did! But Remus was in here, you and Lily were off somewhere, and Peter was in the Astronomy Tower! It was the only thing I could think of! And I've spent the last few days trying to figure out how to tell you."

James looked at him. "Who punched you?"

"What're the chances you believe it was Remus who did it?" Sirius asked.

James clamped his hands over his mouth, figuring out who punched Sirius. _"Gigi?_ She punched you?"

"Actually she lunged at me and wrestled me to the ground," Sirius confirmed.

"That's awful!" James cried out and then paused. "…did anyone take pictures?"

"James!" Sirius exclaimed.

"I'd continue making fun of you…but she _is _freakishly strong," James said. "And I'm not angry at you for fooling around on my couch. It's actually a good thing. Now I'm not in a relationship with someone who doesn't trust me. You actually helped me. So thanks."

"No problem," Sirius said. "I am always willing to fool around with my girlfriend to help my best friend out. In fact I'll do it again…say Saturday?"

"Don't you have a party to get back to?" James teased as he went back to lying down on the couch.

Sirius looked at him suspiciously. "You aren't happy about this break up. You don't really believe what you just said, do you."

James sighed and rolled on his side, sleeping on his arms. "I wish I did."

Sirius walked over to him. "How'd you find out about the bra?"

"Lily was up here a little less than half an hour ago," James said.

Sirius smacked James on the head (OW!"). "You idiot!" Sirius exclaimed. "You didn't get back together with her?"

James sat up once again. "Padfoot, no matter _what _I told her, she didn't believe me. She was convinced that I cheated on her. She has no trust in me whatsoever and I don't deserve someone like that. I can't just get back together with her and believe that everything is alright."

"Stranger things have happened," Sirius said. "Like me having a girlfriend for instance."

"But this is _different_, Si," James said.

"If you think this is for the best, then why are you sitting here staring at a picture of you two?" Sirius asked, taking the picture frame from underneath James.

"That isn't mine," James said quickly.

"Then why does it say 'To James, Love Lily' on it?" Sirius questioned.

James didn't say anything.

"Lemme ask you a question," Sirius said, sitting beside James. "If you found a pair of boxers in the couch, what would you immediately think?"

"Well now I'd think they belonged to you and Lucie."

"No, be_fore _this whole thing," Sirius said.

James stopped to think about it. If he found a pair of boxers that didn't belong to him, he'd instantly think about Lily. But Lily wouldn't do that to him. He'd trust Lily and knew she wouldn't cheat on him. Then he thought about himself. He didn't exactly have the best track record when it came to girls. In fact, he's cheated before.

James sighed and turned to Sirius. "I get what you're saying."

"So what are you gonna do?" Sirius asked.

James stared hard at Sirius trying to decide the answer to that question. He sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "I have to make sure the ceiling doesn't turn pink." And with that, he leaned back on the bed with his head facing the ceiling.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

_Review! It will probably be another 2(ish) weeks til i post the next chapter, but i'm really busy being a camp counselor. But i definitely will updated sooner than I did this time!_


	27. Dart Board, Pepperoni, & his Hair Dryer

**_Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 27_**

_i've been sooooooooooooooo busy being a camp counselor. i'm so sorry that i don't have enough time to update that often. but here you go!_

_disclaimer: this is the 27th chapter. i think you know who i am and who i'm definitely not._

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"Hey Gi," Kacie said as she walked into the private quarters of James and Lily.

"It's a Saturday night, what are you doing here?" Lily questioned, not having gotten out of her pajamas all day.

"Hanging out with you guys," Gigi said, plopping herself onto the floor.

"Why?" Kacie asked.

"What kind of question is that?" Gigi questioned. "Because you're my best friends."

"But Saturday night is usually Jesse's time," Kacie said.

"Well not tonight," Gigi said with a shrug.

"Oh…so what's Jesse up to tonight?" Kacie questioned.

Gigi shrugged. "Not sure."

"Who's he with?" Lily wondered.

"What is this?" Gigi cried out. "An inquiry? An investigation? Twenty questions?"

Lily and Kacie exchanged glances. "Hmm…is something wrong Gi?" Lily asked.

"That's another question," Gigi pointed. Lily and Kacie gave her a look. "Jesse and I broke up."

"Aww Gigi," Lily and Kacie said. "Are you okay?"

Gigi just shrugged it off. "I'm fine."

"Because I can find a dart board and we can put his picture up on it," Lily suggested.

Gigi laughed. "No…you can continue to use the dart board for James's face."

"Oh thank god," Lily said, breathing out. "I'm not ready to give it up."

"So what happened?" Kacie asked Gigi.

"He just said it wasn't working," Gigi said. "But whatever, it doesn't matter."

"Oh come on, you've been going out for almost two months. I don't believe that you're not at least a _little _bit hurt," Lily said.

Gigi looked down at her hands. "It's easier just not to think about it."

"Well, here's something to think about. At least you had great sex before it ended," Kacie said.

"Well if he did, it wasn't with me," Gigi said.

"What?"

"We didn't have sex."

"What?" Lily cried out. "_You_ didn't have sex? But it's what you do! It's right up there with eating meals!"

"He was different," Gigi said. "He was special. He's not like all the one night stands I've had."

Sirius entered just then and looked at the girls suspiciously. "You're talking about sex, aren't you."

The girls just all stared at him. "How the hell did you know that?"

"I can tell by the looks on your faces," Sirius said.

"So you can tell just by looking at a girl if she's a C-cup, you can tell just by looking at us that we're talking about sex, what else can you do?" Lily asked. "Can you tell just by looking at me what I ate for breakfast? Or how about what grade I got on a test?"

"I can tell when you're being sarcastic," Sirius said. Lily stuck her tongue out at Sirius. "Well, I'm just here to get something and I'll be out of-" Sirius paused just noticing that Gigi was there. "Where'd you come from?"

"Well…when a mommy and a daddy really love each other, they get together and-" Gigi started.

"I'm sorry I asked," Sirius muttered. "I just thought you'd be out with-"

"So how about that something you're supposed to be getting?" Lily asked quickly.

"Yeah, we're not leaving," Gigi said. "So don't even think about trying to use this couch for whatever you want to do with your girlfriend."

Sirius glared at her and went into James's room. Gigi groaned. "I'm _so _glad I punched that guy."

Lily spit out the water she just took a sip of. "_That's _where Sirius got his black eye and bloody lip?"

Gigi beamed. "It was an accident?"

"Oh bullshit!" Kacie cried out, creeping closer to Gigi on the couch. "I can't believe you beat the guy up!"

"He was being a jerk," Gigi said.

"Hey Lily?" Sirius asked, walking into the room. He stopped when he saw the guilty grin on Gigi's face and the evil grins on Lily and Kacie's faces. "What?"

"I know you're stupid, but you're _definitely _not stupid enough to run into a wall," Lily said.

Sirius gave her a blank look.

"How's it feel to get beat up by a girl?" Kacie asked with a laugh.

"I didn't get beat up by a girl," Sirius said. "I got beat up by _Giliba_."

"I'm still in the room," Gigi noted.

"What's your point?" Sirius asked. Gigi just narrowed her eyebrows at him. "Anyway, I'm out of here."

"With the invisibility cloak?" Lily asked.

"We're not doing anything against the rules with it," Sirius said.

"Do you expect me to believe that?" Lily asked.

"No," Sirius said. "But I expect you to take my wit and good looks into consideration."

"What wit and good looks?" Lily asked.

"You're being sarcastic again," Sirius said and then looked at her harder. "And you had toast for breakfast."

* * *

"Am I shallow?" Sirius asked, plopping down on the floor of his room looking up at his three best friends. 

Remus, Peter, and James exchanged worried looks and quickly looked down at their feet.

Sirius stared at them. "Okay, I said that out loud, right?"

The boys just stared harder at their shoes.

"Is that a no?" Sirius asked.

Remus finally answered. "Let's just say that we're not looking down at our shoes because we like the color." Remus turned to look at James. "Although, your shoes are pretty cool."

"So that means you think I'm shallow?" Sirius asked.

The boys all stared down at the ground again.

"Hello?" Sirius cried out.

"Don't make us say it Padfoot," James urged.

"I'm not shallow!" Sirius cried out. "Ooh, I do like those shoes. Can I have them? Oh who am I kidding, you'll just give them to me."

James gave him a 'see? this is exactly what we mean' look.

"Why are you suddenly bringing up this new-fangled query of your superficiality?" Remus asked.

Sirius stared at him and then turned to James. "I have no idea what he just said."

"You've never inquired if you were one-dimensional til this present moment," Remus reworded.

Sirius looked back at James. "I'm still lost."

"Why are you all of a sudden wondering if you're shallow or not!" Remus cried out, obviously frustrated.

"Oooh," Sirius said. "Why didn't you just say that before?"

Remus hit his head against his bedpost a few times.

"I wouldn't do that," Peter warned Remus. "You're the only one in this room left with brain cells."

"I'm the only one in this room that ever _had _brain cells," Remus said.

"I'm just gonna try and not be shallow from now on," Sirius decided with a shrug.

Peter turned to Remus. "At least hit your head against a pillow," Peter said. "Then we won't have to worry about losing our smart friend."

"Hey! I can be smart!" James exclaimed. "Ooh look, there's a bug on the ceiling. How cute."

"Hello!" Sirius cried out. "Can we get back to me?"

"How's that whole trying not to be shallow thing working out for ya?" Remus teased.

Sirius sighed. "I walked up to this group of girls…really _hot _girls I must add…and asked if they had an extra quill," Sirius said. "And then I told one of them they had a cute pink shirt on."

"And she called you shallow from that?" Peter asked. "That doesn't make sense."

"I know! All I said was that I liked it because it was really revealing," Sirius said. "And then I told her in a past life, she totally would have had sex with me."

Remus just stared incredulously at Sirius. "Do you know the _meaning _of shallow?"

"How does Lucie put up with you?" James asked.

"Because I'm so damn hot," Sirius said with a grin. "It's a good thing she's hot too."

"Seriously, do I need to get you a dictionary?" Remus asked.

"Ew, only dorks read the dictionary," Sirius said.

Remus shook his head in disbelief. "Can't I just hit my head against the bedpost five more times?"

James looked over at him. "_I'm_ about to hit my head against your bedpost."

Sirius leaned against his bed and stared up at the ceiling. "Whatever, let's stop talking about this."

Remus practically choked on air. "You want to stop talking about _you? _Are you okay? That's your favorite topic of conversation!"

"I didn't say we had to stop talking about me," Sirius said. "I just want to stop talking about shallowness."

"Yeah, let's talk about what _Peter _did this weekend," Remus said with an evil grin.

"What did he do?" James asked, turning to him slowly, getting up from the ground to go sit on a bed.

"Ate pizza," Peter said with a shrug.

"He had sex!" Remus burst out.

"And ate pizza," Peter added quickly.

James fell onto the ground in surprise and Sirius turned to Peter with his jaw dropped. "Why didn't you _tell _us?"

"Because I didn't think you'd care that I ate pizza," Peter explained. "…it was pepperoni."

"Pepperoni? And you didn't give me a piece! I should hurt you!" Sirius cried out.

"Okay, can we talk about Peter having sex and get away from the topic of pizza?" Remus asked.

"Fine," Sirius said with a pout. "But you owe me a slice of pepperoni pizza."

James turned to Peter. "Why didn't you tell us about you having sex?"

"Because you hate the girl," Peter said with a shrug.

"You had sex with _Giliba!_" Sirius cried out.

"NO!" Peter exclaimed.

"Oh c'mon. We don't hate any girls in this school," James said.

"Patsy Millions?" Peter asked.

"Oh yeah, we really do hate that girl," Sirius said. "Well who cares, it's about time you had sex."

"Free dinner at Hogsmeade for Peter," James said with a grin.

"What?" Peter asked.

"When you lose your virginity, we give you a free dinner," Sirius said with a grin.

"I'm a virgin!" James exclaimed.

"James, for the hundredth time, you are _not _getting another free dinner," Sirius insisted. "And you _certainly _aren't a virgin."

"Come on!" James urged. "I want a free dinner!"

"I'll give you a free dinner when you and Lily get back together," Sirius offered.

"Then again, I can easily pay for my own dinner," James said.

"Oh c'mon Prongs," Sirius said. "You and Lily are meant to be. You are Lily are destined to be together. You two are-"

"Just because you are betting Kacie ten galleons that we get back together in the next week does _not _mean you can convince me to start dating Lily again," James said.

"Fine," Sirius said, slumping down. "But _you're _paying for Peter's dinner."

* * *

"Okay, I can't do this!" Kacie cried out. "Handling break ups with both my best friends is impossible! Couldn't one of your boyfriends waited until the other one was okay to break up with you?" 

"Kace, I'm _fine_," Gigi insisted. "Lily on the other hand…"

"Hey!" Lily snapped. "I'm fine too!"

"You're been sobbing into the same tissue for an hour," Kacie said.

"And that doesn't scream 'fine' to you?" Lily questioned. She looked down at the tissue. "Kleenex was James's favorite brand of tissue," Lily cried out, bursting into tears once again.

"Okay, now you're being silly," Kacie said,

"James always called me silly," Lily exclaimed, letting the tears come.

"I think almost the entire population of the _world _uses the word silly," Gigi offered.

Lily looked up from her tissue with red puffy eyes. "It's gonna get better, right?"

"Of course," Gigi lied. "And if it doesn't, you break something of his!"

"I like that idea," Lily said. "Should I break his leg or his arm?"

"I was thinking more like his watch or his broomstick," Gigi said.

Lily gave a small smile. "Go get his watch. It's probably in the drawer of the desk next to his bed."

Gigi grinned evilly and jumped up. Kacie cried out, "You guys can't _break _something expensive! That's illegal…and just _wrong!_"

"C'mon Kace, lemme have a little bit of fun," Gigi said.

"But this is supposed to be about _Lily_," Kacie explained.

"Well, I don't have Jesse's watch. This is as much fun as I get," Gigi said.

Kacie paused. "Okay…" Kacie said. "But break his hair dryer instead. Hit him where it hurts!"

Gigi grinned from ear to ear and ran into James's room. When she came out, she was holding a box. "Is this yours Lily?"

"No," Lily said. "Why do you ask?"

"Because it says Lily on the box," Gigi said.

"Then I guess it is mine," Lily said, reaching out her hand for Gigi to give her the box. She opened it and gasped. It was a heart locket with a diamond lily on the front. She opened it and tried hard not to burst into tears again. A picture of James was on the left side, and a picture of Lily was on the right side. And on the back, it said _Happy 18th Birthday Lils. Love, James. _

Lily just stared at it for the longest time, biting her lip because she wasn't sure if she wanted to throw the locket at a wall or cry because of it.

"So…"Gigi said slowly. "Can we break his hair dryer now?"

Lily looked up from the locket. "Where'd you find this?"

"In his desk drawer," Gigi said and then took a better look at it. "Is that from James?"

Lily nodded weakly. "I'm guessing he bought it before we broke up."

It grew quiet for several seconds. "Oh hell, let's break the watch _and _the hair dryer!" Kacie cried out.

* * *

"What are you doing in a library on a Friday night?" Sirius asked. 

Gigi looked up. "What normal people do in a library."

Sirius gave her a blank stare.

"Study," Gigi responded.

Sirius gave her another blank stare.

"It's what people do to get good grades," Gigi continued.

Sirius just kept staring at her.

"Good grades is what you need-" Gigi said and then stopped herself. "Oh forget it. The more intriguing question is what are _you _doing in a library?"

"I _do _know how to study. And I can read and it requires books from the _library _to do so. I can be smart!" Sirius cried out and then he decided to add, "And I am _not _shallow!"

Gigi looked at him with a frightened look on her face. "I'll get back to how dead wrong you are on the first three things you said. But where the hell did 'I am not shallow' come from?"

Sirius sighed. "Mind if I sit?"

"Yes."

Sirius sat down.

"Why do you ask if you're just gonna do it anyway?" Gigi muttered.

"You think I'm shallow right," Sirius said, ignoring her question.

Gigi let out a burst of laughter. "Do you even have to _ask?_"

"Well-"

"You're also arrogant, annoying, a player, an asshole, and no matter what you do, your hair will stick straight up," Gigi said.

"Let's just stick to one topic," Sirius said. "And my hair does NOT stick straight up!"

"_That's _what upset you about my remark?"

Sirius shrugged. "At least you're noticing my hair," Sirius said with a grin.

"I also notice the other four things I said," Gigi pointed out.

"Yes, but my hair is my best feature," Sirius said.

"Really? I'd say your big head is your best feature," Gigi argued.

"Oooh, so you've noticed my head, have you?" Sirius taunted.

"It's kind of hard not to," Gigi said.

Sirius pouted and got back to the regular topic. "Well _anyway, _some girl called me shallow."

"You are," Gigi pointed out bluntly.

"Yes, but this girl doesn't even _know _me."

"If she called you shallow, it sounds to me like she knows you pretty well," Gigi said. Sirius gave her a stern look. Gigi sighed, "Who's the girl?"

"I don't know her name."

"Well, what does she look like?" Gigi asked.

"I have no idea. I was too busy staring at her boobs," Sirius answered.

"And she had the nerve to call you _shallow?_" Gigi remarked sarcastically.

"They were huge! Can you blame me?" Sirius asked.

"You do realize that we've gone a whole three minutes without yelling at each other, right?" Gigi asked. Sirius nodded. "Until now!" Gigi gathered her books and slammed them shut. "You are the biggest asshole on this planet!"

"Wait, Giliba!" Sirius yelled. Gigi groaned and stopped, but she didn't turn away. "I forgot that you weren't James."

Gigi turned around with an unsure look on her face. "I can see the resemblance. I mean, James doesn't have boobs, a high pitched voice, or wear skirts and make up, but other than that, we're exactly the same."

"What makes you think James doesn't wear skirts?" Sirius teased. Gigi tried hard not to crack a smile. "I mean that that comment was meant for _James_. I tend to forget who I'm around when I make remarks like that. If he was here, he'd just laugh and high five me."

"Well I'm not James! And there's no way in hell that I'm going to reward you with a high five when you sit here and talk about a girl as if she's a toy, as if she's not a real person, and as if she's just a showcase for you!"

"Well fine, don't reward me with a high five," Sirius said. "But how 'bout you reward me with a kiss?"

"UGH!" Gigi cried out, stomping out of the room.

Sirius got up to leave when it dawned on him. The moment he came up to her, she didn't ask him to go to hell or to leave the room. In fact, when he attempted to have a conversation, she actually listened. He started to smile.

James walked in and noticed Sirius staring off in space smiling. "Hm, that's strange," James said to himself.

"What's strange?" Peter asked coming up from behind him.

"Sirius is smiling," James whispered.

"So?" Peter asked. "What's so strange about that?"

"He's in a library," James noted.

"He's probably dreaming about having sex with a bunch of women," Peter said.

James turned to him. "He has a girlfriend."

"Well…then he's probably dreaming about his girlfriend having sex with a bunch of women," Peter said with a shrug.

"Hey guys," Remus said, walking in just then. "What's up? Why are y-" Remus paused. "Why's Sirius smiling?"

Peter and James shrugged. "Either his girlfriend is having sex with other girls or he was abducted by aliens."

Remus just stared at them incredulously. James then said, "Well…we haven't actually asked him yet."

"I figured that," Remus said.

"What's going on?" Kacie asked. "Why are you standing in the-" Kacie stopped. "Why's Sirius smiling?"

"Either his girlfriend is having sex with other girls, he was abducted by aliens, or he pictured McGonagall saying he doesn't have to do homework for the rest of his time at Hogwarts," Remus noted.

Kace gave them all a blank stare. "So…I'm guessing you haven't asked him yet?"

"Nope."

Sirius looked up at that moment and noticed his four friends standing in the doorway. "What are you guys doing?"

"I'm dreaming about my girlfriend having sex with other girls," Remus answered.

"I'm thinking about how cool it would be to be abducted by aliens," James said.

"And I'm thinking about McGonagall canceling all homework assignments," Peter said.

Sirius looked at Kacie who quickly responded with, "I'm thinking about cake."

Sirius gave them all a strange look and then smiled widely. "I do love cake."

* * *

"Chocolate cake? Peanut butter cookies? Vanilla ice cream with lots and lots of whipped cream?" a voice asked. 

Lily stopped eating and turned around with a mouth full of whipped cream. "Hi Sirius." At least, that's what he thought he heard. It was hard to tell what she was saying with food in her mouth.

"Sounds like comfort food," Sirius said, grabbing a spoon and jumping up to sit on the counter.

Lily gave him a guilty smile and handed him her ice cream so he could have a bite. "I don't need comfort in food," Lily said quickly (a little _too _quickly). "I'm not in need of any comfort at all."

Sirius looked at her. "If this ice cream wasn't so damn good, I'd argue that," Sirius said, and then stuck an entire spoonful of ice cream in his mouth.

Lily laughed at him and took a small bite of chocolate cake. "So how's Lucie doing?"

Sirius gave her a wary look.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Just because my relationship deteriorated doesn't mean I can't talk about other people's relationships."

"Well…she's good," Sirius said with a shrug. "We're good actually."

"Found another place to take her bra off?" Lily joked.

"Don't taunt me Evans," Sirius said. "I have a full bowl of ice cream."

Lily laughed. "Good point." Lily looked down at her place. "Although, I would just retaliate with chocolate cake."

Sirius looked at her fork full of chocolate cake and put down his spoon. "Good point."

Lily gave an evil grin and flung the chocolate cake at him anyway. Sirius shrieked. "How come whenever I'm in the kitchens, I tend to _wear _the food instead of _eat _it." Lily laughed and threw another forkful of chocolate cake at him.

"That's it!" Sirius exclaimed, taking two handfuls of whipped cream and slapped them onto Lily's cheeks. Sirius burst out laughing at the sight of her. "You look like Santa Clause!"

"Well you look like you have dog poop on you," Lily said, looking at the chocolate cake on Sirius's robes.

Sirius grabbed another handful of whipped cream and threw it at her.

Lily screeched and grabbed another forkful of chocolate cake but froze mid-throw and just stared at the doorway. Sirius saw her frozen face and slowly turned to look at the place she was staring. Sirius gulped when he saw James standing there.

"Hey James," Sirius said weakly. James just gave him a stern look. Sirius looked down at him and Lily and then back at James. "Oh look, this isn't what it looks like…"

James didn't say anything.

"Well _this _is awkward," Sirius muttered. He jumped off the counter. "Thank god _I _can leave." And Sirius practically zoomed out of the kitchens.

"So…um," James said, having no idea what to say. He looked down at the food Lily was eating. "You have something against healthy food?"

Lily laughed nervously. "You only live once, right?"

James just looked at her and then sighed. He started heading for the door.

"Where are you going?"

"Sirius is right," James said. "This _is _awkward. And thank god _I _can also leave."

"James, wait!" Lily exclaimed.

"Lily, this is stupid," James argued. "We are _never _going to be friends. We are _never _going to be able to be around each other. We-"

"You don't believe that," Lily insisted.

"Let me rephrase…_I _can never be around you," James said, and then turned around to walk away.

"So that's it?" Lily cried out helplessly. "We go from being together to _nothing? _That doesn't seem fair! There's nothing I can do?"

James just sighed and gave Lily an extremely hurt look. "I don't know," he mumbled.

"Tell me," Lily said. "Do you think we'll ever get to the point where we can be friends?"

It took James a few seconds to answer before he whispered, "No," with a tremble in his voice and walked away.

* * *

"Am I doing the right thing?" James asked, pacing back and forth in the room. 

Remus glanced over at James's clothes and books piled in the corner and turned back to look at him. "No."

James stopped pacing and looked at him. "You're just tired of me sleeping in here."

"Yes."

James groaned and started pacing again. James knocked on the bathroom door and screamed over the loud rushing shower water, "Am I being an idiot?"

"Now? Or all the time?" Sirius yelled over the water. "Oh what does it matter? The answer's yes."

James went back to pacing. "I'm sorry I asked."

"James, can I ask you a question?" asked Remus. James stopped pacing and looked in his direction so Remus continued, "What do you think is the most important factor of a relationship?"

"Sex."

Remus dropped his head. "James, and I say this from my heart-"

"Oh no, not your heart," James said. "I'm always wrong when your heart speaks up."

"You're a prat," Remus said.

"See? I'm wrong once again."

Sirius came out of the bathroom just then with a towel wrapped around his waist. He leaned against the doorway and listened to the conversation.

"Do you trust Lily?" Remus asked.

James nodded his head.

"Does she trust you?"

James stopped dead in his tracks. Slowly he shook his head.

Remus leaned back in his bed, "There's your answer."

"What? That's like the worst advice you've _ever _given," Sirius said. He turned to James. "Is the sex good?"

James rolled his eyes but nodded.

"Then _there's _your answer," Sirius said.

"Sirius, when's the last time a girl accused you of cheating and you _weren't _cheating?" Remus demanded to know, trying to prove that he has no idea what James is going through.

"Never," Sirius said. "When girls accuse me of cheating, I usually am."

Remus groaned. "When's the last time you were in love with a girl who didn't believe a word you said?"

Sirius didn't move for at least a minute and then very slowly turned to Remus. "I get your point." Sirius turned to James. "As much as it sucks…you're doing the right thing."

Remus and James stared at him. "Say what?" James dared to ask.

Sirius grabbed his clothes and went back into the bathroom. He leaned against the closed door and sighed. He was in love with Gigi a year ago and she didn't believe a word he said…and it felt awful.

Remus turned to James. "Did he just agree with me?"

"I think all that hot water got to his head," James said.

"You saying he didn't agree with me?"

"I'm saying Sirius will _never _agree with you," James said. "Unless you admit that he's the hottest guy at Hogwarts."

* * *

"A little help?" a voice asked, as Lily came around the corner. She saw a split bag and tons of books on the floor. 

"Wow, you read almost as much as I do," Lily said, stooping down to help the guy. She turned to look at the face and stopped picking the books up. "Oh…hi Jesse."

Jesse looked at her and his face grew white. He was embarrassed to have asked her to help him with his stuff. "Hi."

Lily quickly grabbed some of his books and shoved them into his hands. "I gotta go."

"Wait," Jesse said. Lily turned around to look at him. "How's Gigi?"

"If you were still together with her, you'd know how she was," Lily said sharply.

"I know," Jesse mumbled. "But what-"

"Why'd it happen anyway? She wasn't hot enough for you?" Lily asked. "Or wait, lemme guess, you heard about her reputation and then was surprised when she didn't jump into bed with you the first night? Or you were just bored and you've moved on to the next bimbo."

"Wait, what?" Jesse asked.

"Why the hell did you break up with her?" Lily cried out, taking her anger over the break-up with James out on Jesse. "It's not working is the worst excuse ever!"

"Lily-" Jesse started.

"Oh, don't you Lily me!" Lily cried out.

"But isn't Lily your name?" Jesse asked, receiving a glare from Lily. "I didn't break up with Gigi."

"What?" Lily exclaimed. "But she told us the other day that you two have broken up."

"We are broken up," Jesse continued. "But I didn't break up with her. She broke up with me."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

_REVIEW!_


	28. Bagel Hockey, Aliens, and My Buns

**_Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 28_**

_once again, sorry this update is so late but i've been so incredibly busy with camp. but camp ends in two days and then i'll have plenty of free time! (even tho i go back to school in a week). _

_Disclaimer: blah blah etc etc you get it by now..._

"Hey Gi," James said, entering the Gryffindor Commons room. "What are you doing sitting in a corner all by yourself?"

"Homework," Gigi said, looking up with a smile.

James looked at her. "No really…what are you doing?"

Gigi rolled her eyes and closed her book. "What are _you _doing alone in this corner?"

James sat down on the arm of the chair. "Talking to you."

"Okay…" Gigi said. "But what are you doing alone?"

"Hanging out with you," James said with a grin.

"Don't you have to have my consent to hang out with me?" Gigi teased.

"Well you can sit here and talk with me…_or_ you could go back to your work," James said. "But I must warn you, I am going to hum loudly, flail my arms all about, and get up and dance if you pick the second choice."

Gigi paused to think about it. "So…wanna head down to the lake?"

James laughed. "Damn, I was kind of looking forward to dancing around the room."

"Aw, well you can embarrass me later," Gigi joked.

* * *

"No way!" James cried out, lounging around on a branch in a tree. "It was much funnier when Sirius turned you into a pig." 

Gigi grinned. "Pink did _not _suit me."

"But having a snout and a curly cue tail did," James said with a laugh.

"I still think it was funnier when you fell in the lake in our third year," Gigi said.

"I didn't fall," James defended. "You _pushed _me in."

"That was the funny part," Gigi said, adjusting her back against the tree trunk.

James sat up in the tree and looked down at Gigi. "Can I ask you a question?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I know what you're gonna ask," Gigi said with a sigh.

James broke up a small tree branch and looked down at Gigi. "If you don't let me ask the question, I'll throw this at you."

Gigi rolled her eyes. "Fine, ask the question. But I'm only doing this because I'm having a really good hair day and I don't want twigs to mess it up."

James stared at her hair. "Really? You think today is a good hair day?"

Gigi gave him a look. "For that, I won't let you ask the question."

James chose to ask anyway. "Why can't you and Sirius settle your differences and just get along?"

"I knew you were gonna ask me that," Gigi muttered. Gigi sighed and looked up at James. "James, I know you're best friends with Sirius but-"

"I'm also one of your best friends," James noted.

Gigi gave a slight smile. "You don't understand how much he hurt me James. It seemed more sensible to get mad at him then to get disappointed and upset over the whole thing."

"But what exactly happened?" James asked. "I mean I have a broad sense of what happened but I don't know it from your point of view."

Gigi sighed. "He had sex with someone else right after having sex with me. He couldn't even wait twenty four hours. And yes, I understand you and Black think there's nothing wrong with that-at least you used to think like that. But Black and I were supposed to be good friends. When it happened, I just figured he had changed. I thought he _could_ change."

James fixated on Gigi's expression for a little bit. "You're upset."

"That this tree trunk is uncomfortable? Yeah, I am upset about that," Gigi joked.

"No, you're upset that Sirius finally _has _changed," James said. "And you had nothing to do with it…but you're right, this tree trunk is uncomfortable."

"What?" Gigi cried out. "That's ridiculous. You need your head examined."

"I'll make an appointment when we get back to the castle," James joked. "But I am totally right."

"First of all, you're crazy. Second of all, your best friend has _not _changed. One girlfriend for a little over a month doesn't change you. They'll break up, and he'll go back to screwing every thing that fits into a mini skirt," Gigi said.

"No he won't," James said, "Mainly because there are no girls left."

Gigi gave him a look.

"But you didn't need to know that."

Gigi laughed. "Let's not talk about Black."

"Remember the good 'ol days when you were actually able to hang out with Sirius and not bite his head off?" James reminisced.

"Good 'ol days?" Gigi asked with a snort. "Where you guys thought playing bagel hockey was fun and that spitting food at each other was the funniest thing ever?"

James grinned. "You know why we _really _like bagel hockey?"

Gigi gave him an inquiring look. "Why?"

"Because whenever you played and bent down to retrieve the bagel, we could see down your shirt," James said with a grin.

Gigi gave him an appalled look. "I am _never _playing bagel hockey with you again!"

"But we won't be able to find a goalie in such short notice!" James cried out.

"And I'm wearing turtlenecks for the rest of my life," Gigi said.

"Sirius is gonna be pissed that I told you that," James said with a smile.

"He's too busy to notice anything," Gigi said. "When his tongue isn't down Lucie's throat, his hand is in the couch trying to find her bra."

"Or his hand is occupied somewhere else," James said with a wink.

Gigi gave him a disgusted look.

"Yeah…that's something else you didn't need to know," James said.

Gigi laughed and started playing with the grass surrounding the tree.

James fidgeted with his thumbs for awhile before asking, "So…how are the other girls doing?"

Gigi smiled at James' lame attempt. "Lily's fine."

"Oh," James said, giving Gigi and awkward smile. "Cool."

"She spends a _lot _of time throwing darts at a picture of your face," Gigi said.

"Well that's comforting," James said with a nervous laugh.

"That's not a bad thing," Gigi said, glancing up at James's sad face.

"How is throwing darts at my face not a _bad _thing?" James asked.

"Lily sucks at darts," Gigi said. "She misses your face most of the time."

"Wow, you really suck at this comforting thing," James said.

Gigi conjured up a tub of cookie dough and handed it to him. "Better?"

"No," James said, taking the cookie dough. "You forgot a spoon."

Gigi laughed and conjured up a spoon, throwing it up to James.

* * *

Lily stormed into the library and saw Sirius sitting there with a book open. "Sirius," Lily said, marching up to him. "Have you seen Gigi?" 

"No," Sirius said.

"Do you know where she is?"

"No."

"Do you have any idea what her schedule is like today?" Lily questioned.

"Why would I know the whereabouts of a girl I hate?" Sirius asked.

"Good point," Lily said and then started walking away. "Do you think she could be in the kitchens?"

"Are you done with these pointless questions?" Sirius asked.

"I just have one more," Lily said.

Sirius looked up and gave her an attentive look.

"What the hell are you doing in a library?" Lily asked.

"Oh looks, there's Giliba!" Sirius cried out jokingly. Lily turned her head and then groaned when she realized Sirius was joking.

"You suck," Lily said and then walked off.

"No I don't," Sirius said. "But according to James, you do!"

Lily crumbled up a piece of parchment and threw it at him and walked off.

She roamed the halls until she came across Peter coming out of a classroom. "Hey Peter, have you seen Gigi?"

Peter jumped, not expecting to see Lily standing there. "Oh hey…no I haven't."

"How come no one knows where she is?" Lily groaned. "Do you know where she could be?"

Peter shrugged. "Sorry, I have no idea."

"Okay," Lily said, walking away. She turned around to face Peter again. "You have lipstick on your mouth."

Peter quickly wiped of his mouth and gave a sheepish grin when Patsy came out of the classroom just then.

Lily just shook head and laughed a little. "I'm gonna go find Remus," Lily said. "I'll talk to you later."

"Remus is in detention," Peter said.

"Hold on," Lily said. "Lemme get this straight. _You _are snogging some girl in a classroom, Sirius is in a library, and Remus is in detention."

Peter looked at her pondering it over. "Trying to figure out what aliens took over our bodies?"

"Yep."

"Good luck with that."

* * *

Lily spent an hour looking in every broom closet, empty classroom, deserted hallway, and the astronomy tower for Gigi, but no such luck. Lily even resorted to asking every single Hogwarts male over the age of sixteen if he had seen Gigi, but no one knew her whereabouts. 

"Why exactly are you looking so hard for Gigi?" Sirius asked, coming from behind.

Lily whirled around and eyed Sirius. "What did you do to her?"

"Excuse me?"

"Chop her up and put her into tonight's soup? Throw her off a cliff? Turn her into an ant?" Lily asked fervidly.

"Whoa, you have it all wrong," Sirius said and then he grinned. "I turned her into a spider."

"Sirius!" Lily cried out.

"And then stepped on her," Sirius said.

"SIRIUS!"

"Lily, I'm _kidding_," Sirius said. "I have no idea where she is. But my question is, why do _you _care so much where she is?"

"Because I need to find her," Lily said.

"She's probably with Jesse," Sirius said with a shrug.

Being distracted by looking for Gigi, Lily said, "They broke up. She's not with him." And with that, Lily ducked her head into another empty classroom.

"What?" Sirius asked.

Lily looked up and realized what she said. "Oh…nothing. It's not important."

"When?"

"When what?"

Sirius gave her a look.

"A week ago," Lily said.

"Who broke up with who?" Sirius asked.

Lily looked him up and down and then shrugged. "I don't know."

"Why did they break up?"

"I don't know."

"Do you know anything?" Sirius asked frustratingly.

"I know that your questions aren't helping me find Gigi any faster," Lily said, speeding up to look in the next empty classroom.

"Well there's an obvious answer," Sirius said.

"No there's not. If there was an obvious answer, I would have discovered it by now," Lily said.

"James is missing also. She's probably with him," Sirius said with a shrug.

Lily looked at him. "That _is_ an obvious answer."

"Well I can be smart at times," Sirius said with a goofy grin.

"I said _obvious _answer, not _smart _answer," Lily said. "Thanks for the help." Lily turned the corner but then whipped around to look at Sirius. "So where's James?"

"I don't know."

"You are no help," Lily said with a pout.

"But you just thanked me for my help!"

"I change my mind," Lily pointed out.

"Well, I'll help you look," Sirius said.

"No," Lily said firmly.

Sirius was taken aback by her harshness. "Why not?"

"Because to you, looking for someone means complaining that you're bored and want chocolate cake," Lily said.

"Oh c'mon that's not true," Sirius said.

Lily gave him a look.

"Okay, it's a little true," Sirius said with a shrug.

Lily gave him another look.

"Okay, it's completely true," Sirius said. There was silence which was filled by him asking, "So…want some chocolate cake?"

"Bye Sirius."

"Is that a no?" Sirius called out after Lily.

* * *

"I didn't really lie," Gigi said with a shrug. 

"You told us it wasn't working," Lily said.

"And that's the truth."

"You said _he _said it wasn't working," Kacie reiterated.

Gigi paused. "Oh yeah."

"Why'd you lie?"

Gigi shrugged. "Because I didn't want you guys finding out that I broke up with him. I thought you'd go into a whole speech about how I need to learn how to commit and forget about one night stands with guys whose names I can't even remember."

"We wouldn't say that," Kacie said, opening the door open for Lily and Gigi.

"So…why _did _you break up with him?" Lily dared to ask.

The girls entered the Great Hall and Lily and Kacie stopped to turn to Gigi to hear the answer.

"It just wasn't working," Gigi said. "I spent all my free time with him. I never got to see you girls."

"You spent all your free time with him because you _liked _him," Lily noted.

"Well whatever," Gigi said. "That's just-" Gigi trailed off and stared in the direction of the Marauders.

Lily followed her gaze and grinned. "I get it."

"Get what?" Gigi asked, snapping out of her trance.

"Why you really broke up with Jesse," Lily said, darting her eyes at Sirius.

Gigi noticed this and laughed out loud. "Are you _kidding _me? You think I broke up with Jesse because of…" Gigi couldn't finish her sentence because she was laughing too hard.

"Because of what? Someone care to explain?" Kacie cried out. Lily nudged Kacie and pointed at Sirius. "Ooooh."

"No, no ooooh. There's no ooooh. I didn't break up with Jesse for that ass," Gigi insisted.

"Why not?" Kacie asked. "He has a _great _ass."

Gigi made a retching noise but turned when there was a lot of commotion coming from the end of the Gryffindor table.

"What are they doing?" Kacie asked, as the three girls wondered over there.

Gigi laughed. "They're having their annual hamburger eating contest."

"How'd you know that?" Lily asked.

"Because they've been having that contest every year since second year," Gigi said with a shrug.

"Hey Gi! Wanna join?" Remus asked, tucking a napkin into his robes.

Gigi shrugged. "Sure, why not."

"What?" Lily asked, obviously surprised.

"_What?_" Sirius cried out.

"I've watched you guys do it for five years now. How hard can it be?" Gigi asked.

"Hard," James insisted. "Impossible. Dirty."

Gigi gave him a look. "Do I look like someone who minds getting dirty?"

"Take it from me, the answer to that question is no," Sirius whispered to James, which resulted in Gigi throwing a hamburger bun at him.

"Alright, so are we gonna get started or not?" Georgie, a seventh year Ravenclaw, asked.

"We have to get Gigi some hamburgers," James said. "You're seventeen. I think you can wait a few minutes."

"I wanna start!" Sirius whined.

"But apparently he can't," James said.

Gigi turned to Sirius. "If you sit still, Lucie will do anything you want," she said.

"Whoa, I didn't agree to that," Lucie piped up.

"Okay!" Sirius said, and then he placed his hands in his laps and sat quietly.

"Damnit," Lucie mumbled under her breath.

Gigi gave her a cheesy grin. "Oops?"

"Why don't _you _do anything he wants?" Lucie asked. "I even give you permission."

Lily, Kacie, Remus, Sirius, Peter, James, and Gigi all froze. Lily and Kacie exchanged glances, Sirius looked down at his hands, James nudged Remus, and Peter glanced nervously at the two. Gigi just smiled weakly at Lucie. "I wouldn't even touch him with a ten foot pole," Gigi said with a forced laugh.

Everyone else laughed nervously and went back to prepping for the contest. "So…how many hamburgers are you guys eating?" Kacie asked.

"Only ten," Sirius said with a shrug

"_Only _ten?" Kacie asked and then made a gagging sound. "If you throw up, you're lucky."

"Why?" James asked with a laugh.

"Because then all those calories won't actually go into you," Kacie said with a smile.

"So, you're not gonna join us Lily?" Remus asked.

"Do I look like the kind of girl to pull my hair back, tuck tons of napkins into my robes, and scarf down nine hamburgers more than I can handle?" Lily asked.

"I don't know," Remus said. "What does that kind of girl look like?"

"Let's get this contest started!" Gigi cried out.

Lily pointed at Gigi. "Like that."

Peter looked up at Kacie who was standing behind him. "And I'm guessing from your calorie comment that you're not participating," Peter said.

Kacie took a carrot from a nearby plate and chomped down on it. "Forget it."

"Since when were girls allowed to participate?" Freddie, a seventh year Hufflepuff, asked.

James glanced up at Gigi "She's not a girl."

"Hey!" Gigi cried out, throwing a few hamburger buns at James.

"Hey, those are my buns!" James cried out. James paused. "In no way did that sound good."

The whole table could hardly hear him over their excessive laughing.

"Okay, all the hamburgers are here," Sirius said. "You guys ready?"

James looked up at Lily for the first time since she's been there. He handed her his wand. "Wanna do the honors?"

Lily smiled at him and nodded. "Of course." Lily put the wand in the air and looked at the seven contributors. "Ready…Set…GO!" Lily let a few sparks fly from James's wand and then placed it back on the table. Lily sat down beside him to watch the contest.

Other Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and even some Slytherins gathered around the table to watch the contest.

"Georgie's gonna puke!"

"But he only had two hamburgers so far!"

"Oh…well then maybe he's not gonna puke, but he's _definitely _not gonna win."

"Go James!" Lily tried hard not to get upset over the many girls who were cheering James on in their giggly tones and their high pitched voices.

"Go Remus! Come on!"

"Hey, he's got a girlfriend!" Lacey cried out.

"I'm not sure I'd want to take credit for dating _that_," Kacie joked, glancing over at Remus with tons of hamburgers stuck in his mouth.

"Ugh, this is disgusting," Lily said, putting her roll back in the basket.

"You mean you don't find this attractive?" Lacey asked with a laugh, giving her boyfriend a goofy grin.

"Five galleons says Peter throws up first!"

"Ten says it's Gigi!"

"No way, when it comes to things like this, she's a freak."

"DONE!" Gigi cried out, not caring that pieces of hamburger were ejecting out of her mouth. "And thanks for the freak comment…for some reason, I take that as a compliment."

"NOOOO!" Sirius cried out, hamburger still stuffed in his mouth.

"Ew gross," Lily said as hamburger spewed out of his mouth.

"Ya know," Lucie said, leaning on the bench. "For the past three minutes, I've been trying to figure out what I find so attractive in Sirius."

"Having trouble?"

"Oh yeah."

Lily looked at Sirius. "His ass."

Lucie grinned. "Oh yeah. How could I forget?"

"How could _she _win?" Georgie asked.

"Well you see Goergie. While you were only on your fifth hamburger, Gigi here was done," Freddie said, swallowing the rest of his hamburger.

"When I said you weren't a girl, I was totally right," James said.

Gigi grinned from ear to ear. "And that boys is how you eat ten hamburgers." She turned to Kacie and Lily. "Remind me _never _to eat hamburgers again."

"But a Marauder has _always _won…til now," Remus complained.

"Yeah, mostly because this contest was just between us Marauders the first three years we did it," Sirius said with a laugh, wiping off his mouth and gulping water down.

"You drink any more water Si and you're gonna turn into an ocean," Peter warned

Sirius looked at him as if to take his words in and then shrugged. "Hey Luce, wanna hand me that water pitcher?"

It grew quiet as everyone was digesting and the crowds dispersed. "So…" Sirius said slowly. "Who wants to play bagel hockey."

Remus and Peter turned to Gigi. "I bet you wanna play," Remus said coolly.

"You are _not _looking down my shirt!" Gigi cried out.

"Damnit!" all four boys yelled.

"Wait…how'd you know?" Sirius asked curiously. James started whistling innocently and twiddling his thumbs.

Sirius, Remus, and Peter turned to James. "You _told _her?"

James just gave a sheepish grin and stuffed a roll into his mouth. "Can't talk right now, it's impolite to talk with your moth full," James said, stuffing yet another roll in his mouth.

"You just ate nine hamburgers, how can you still be eating?" Kacie asked, sitting down on the table near the others.

James shrugged and took a piece of turkey and put that in his mouth.

Sirius looked around at the group, put his arm around Lucie, and smiled. "Isn't this nice?"

"Almost puking from eating ten hamburgers?" Lily asked.

"No," Sirius said. "All of us hanging out. No yelling matches. No one avoiding each other."

"Are there usually yelling matches and people avoiding each other?" Lacey asked.

Everyone else exchanged glances. Sirius looked at her and reached out his hand and shook Lacey's. "Welcome to the most dysfunctional group ever. I'm Sirius."

"Don't go near him," Kacie whispered. "He'll try to seduce you into bed."

"I will not!" Sirius exclaimed, tightening his grip around Lucie's shoulders.

"Either that or he'll convince you to take your bra off on Lily's couch," Peter said and the whole group laughed…everyone that is, except James and Lily.

Lily stole a quick glance at James and got up. "I have to go." And with that, she was gone.

Sirius sighed. "And the avoiding starts again."

"Who's avoiding who? And why?" Lacey asked.

Sirius turned to Remus. "Don't you tell your girlfriend _anything?_"

"She knows how much of an idiot you are," Remus said.

"Oh," Sirius said. "Then there isn't much more to tell."

Remus laughed. "I try not to show Lace just how outrageous we all are," Remus said. "I still want her to date me."

Sirius grinned and turned to Lacey. "Yeah, it's probably better that you don't know anything."

"Well, I have a question," Lucie chimed in. She turned to Sirius and Gigi. "Why do you guys hate each other?"

Gigi stopped mid bite and Sirius just stopped moving altogether. James, Kacie, Peter, and Remus looked at each other nervously.

"They hate each other?" Lacey whispered to Remus.

Remus smiled and kissed her. "One of these days we'll stay up and you can ask any questions you want."

Lacey thought about it. "Okay…but that's gonna take more than one day."

Sirius cleared his throat and turned slowly to look at Lucie. "Well…er…it's kinda a long story…"

Gigi looked at Lucie. "You really wanna know the truth?"

"No she doesn't," Sirius said.

Lucie rolled her eyes at Sirius and turned to Gigi. "Yeah, I do."

Gigi gave one last look to Sirius and turned her attention back to Lucie. Gigi gave a fake smile. "He stole the last muffin at breakfast a year and a half ago."

"Don't listen to her! It's not tr-" Sirius stopped and looked at Gigi. "_What?_"

Gigi just shrugged. "I haven't forgiven you for that."

Lucie gave her a skeptical look and looked suspiciously at Sirius. "That's not what really happened is it?"

Sirius gave her a nervous look. "No," he said with a sigh. "It was a scone, not a muffin."

Lucie just shrugged and jumped off the table. "Alright, I gotta go." She gave Sirius a kiss on the lips and headed out.

"Yeah, I'm gonna go with her. I have homework to do," Lacey said, getting up from the bench.

"Just do what Sirius does when he has homework," Remus said.

"What's that?"

"Don't do it," Remus said.

"That's not true!" Sirius cried out. "I copy Remus."

"No you don't," Remus said.

"Well if you let me, I would," Sirius said with a grin. "And that's why I have James…because he lets me."

"Somehow I don't think that will work," Lacey said with a laugh. She kissed Remus goodbye, and then trudged off.

Sirius pouted. "How come no one takes me seriously?"

No one said anything.

Gigi looked up and noticed that Sirius was waiting for an answer. "Oh, did you actually want us to answer that?"

Sirius grabbed a carrot and threw it at her.

"It's hard to take you seriously when you throw food," James said.

Sirius grinned and threw a carrot at James also.

"As much fun as throwing food is, I hafta go," Remus said. "Someone has to do the homework."

"You just wanna catch up with Lacey and get a few snogs in," Sirius said.

Remus just grinned mysteriously. "Plus, I have Ancient Runes," Remus said.

"Yeah, I have that too," Kacie said, stepping down from the table. "But I'll see you guys later. Hopefully when you're not stuffing yourselves with hamburgers."

"And I'm gonna go and throw up," Peter said, practically running out of the room.

James laughed. "I'm gonna make sure Peter is okay," James said, running after him. Remus and Kacie rolled their eyes, grabbed their books, and headed out.

"Why'd you do that?" Sirius asked, immediately after everyone laughed.

Gigi looked down at her pumpkin juice. "Well it's easy. You take a sip and swallow what you drink. Now you try it."

Sirius rolled his eyes at her. "Why were you nice?"

"Giving you tips on how to drink pumpkin juice classifies as nice?" Gigi asked.

"You were about to tell Lucie what really happened between us and then you stopped and gave her a bullshit story," Sirius said. "Which by the way, was pretty lame."

"Would you have rather me tell her the _real _story?"

Sirius paused. "Good point. But you could have at least said that you were choking on the muffin and I wouldn't save you. Make it a little more believable."

"Look, it's no big deal," Gigi said, hopping down from the table.

"It is to me." Sirius grabbed Gigi's arm lightly and turned her to him.

"You have a great thing going with Lucie," Gigi said with a shrug. "There's no reason to ruin it with a story of how you used to be."

"Used to be?" Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow. "You don't think I'm still that way?"

"Oh no, I do," Gigi reassured. "But Lucie doesn't."

"Well…thanks," Sirius said.

Gigi pulled her arm back. "Don't make such a big deal out of it." Gigi started walking away but stopped when she heard Sirius speak up.

"Jesse's a lucky guy."

Gigi turned around slowly and stared at Sirius, trying to understand if he was being sincere. She looked up and down and took a step toward him. "He _was _a lucky guy. We broke up."

Sirius nodded. "Lily told me." Sirius looked at Gigi's expression and she didn't even seem upset that Lily was telling Gigi's business. Sirius grabbed a piece of turkey and sat on the bench, leaning back against the table. "So who broke up with who?"

Gigi looked at him apprehensively. Then, she also took a piece or turkey and sat up on the table. "I broke up with him."

"Why?"

Gigi once again looked at him suspiciously. "Why do you care?"

Sirius placed the turkey in his mouth. "I'm merely wondering."

"It just wasn't working," Gigi said with a shrug. "I wasn't into him as much as he was into me."

"But you spent all your time with him. It was actually kind of sickening how happy you looked when you were with him," Sirius said.

"It wasn't working," Gigi said firmly. "End of story."

"But-"

"No," Gigi cried out. "There's nothing else to say."

"But you really liked him!"

"Look Black, we're not exactly friends so excuse me if I don't want to sit here and talk to you about my love life," Gigi snapped.

"This is just like you," Sirius said, standing up from the bench.

"What is just like me?" Gigi retorted.

"Just when we're having a normal conversation, you go and make it a bad thing," Sirius said.

"A normal conversation?" Gigi asked, letting out a laugh. "We were talking about how screwed up I am when it comes to relationships. Basically you're perfect with Lucie and I can't even keep a guy for two months."

"How did you get _that _out of what we were talking about?" Sirius asked. "We were merely discussing something that is going on in your life. And I am _not _perfect with Lucie. I have no idea how to act around her. I have no idea how to be around her."

"Here's some advice," Gigi said, hopping down from the table and taking an apple. "Don't sleep with another girl a day after sleeping with her."

"Giliba!" Sirius cried out with such harshness that Gigi actually stopped walking away and turned to face him. "What I did was a horrible thing, I understand that. And I know that no matter what, you're gonna throw it in my face every time we talk. But don't you understand how sorry I am? How upset I am that things became so screwed up between us, all because of something stupid I did?"

Gigi didn't say anything for what seemed like forever. Finally, she looked up at Sirius and said. "Yes, I liked Jesse. But he's not the one I really want." And with one last look at Sirius, she darted out of the Great Hall.

_OoOoOoOoOo what's gonna happen next? review to find out!_


	29. Kacie's Cat, Cookie Crumbs, & To Do List

**_Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 29_**

_two weeks EXACTLY...i'm doing better with this whole updating thing. hahaha thanks for being so patient!_

_Disclaimer: i'm am not J.K. Rowling...but how amazing would it be if i was? lol_

_Dedication: you will be missed by many, erica 3 "you'll be with me like a handprint on my heart" _

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"Ugh, my head is full," Sirius said, throwing his quill down.

"It's called thinking. Go with it," Remus whispered.

"I don't want to take this test anymore," Sirius whined.

"Shh," Remus hissed.

"I'm bored," Sirius complained.

"Shhh," James whispered forcefully.

"But I don't wanna-"

"SHHH," Remus, Peter, and James hissed together.

"Hmpf," Sirius said, leaning back in his chair. He sighed and went back to answering the questions.

After a few minutes, Sirius glanced over at James's parchment. James looked at him and hissed, "What are you doing?"

Sirius gave a sheepish grin. "Just making sure you spelled your name right…yup, James Potter. Looks good to me."

"Can you guys shut up?" Remus whispered back.

"Yeah," Sirius said and then turned to look at Remus's parchment. "Let me just make sure you spelled your name right."

Remus jerked his paper back and went back to writing.

"Hey Peter," Sirius murmured.

"No," Peter said almost immediately.

Sirius pouted. "What's the use of taking this class together if you guys-"

"Mr. Black?" the professor boomed.

Sirius looked up. "Yes professor?"

"Do you find something more interesting than my test?"

"Yes…_everything _is more interesting," Sirius muttered to himself, getting a slight smile out of James. Sirius raised his voice, "No…I just do better when I say the answers to myself."

"Well, don't," the professor said, and looked back down at his book.

"Good advice," Sirius mumbled.

After a few minutes, the professor stood up. "Put your quills down and leave your parchment at the end of each desk. I will collect them after you leave." The students all stared at him blankly. "You may leave." There was a rush to gather bags and books. "Don't forget the homework!"

The Marauders gathered their things as quickly as possible and zipped out of there. "Wait, what is the homework?" James asked, walking out of the classroom.

"Read chapter thirteen and fourteen and write a synopsis of each chapter," Sirius said.

Remus, Peter, and James stared at him. "You listened to the professor?"

Sirius gasped. "Oh my god. I listened to a professor!" Sirius rushed out of the room.

"Where are you going?" James called out.

"To go get everything I just learned out of my head," Sirius cried out over his shoulder.

"What's that mean?" Peter asked.

"I think it means Sirius is going to pack his brain with useless facts," James said.

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"Hey guys, did you know that a goldfish's attention span is only three seconds," Sirius said.

"Yup, sounds like a useless fact to me," Peter confirmed.

"And animals that lay eggs don't have belly buttons," Sirius continued.

The other three rolled their eyes and sat down on the couch next to Sirius.

Sirius looked up from what he was reading and bit his lip nervously. "Hey guys, can I ask you a question?"

James stopped tossing the pillow up in the air and turned to look at Sirius while Remus and Peter stopped playing rock, paper, scissors, and glanced up at Sirius.

"Let's say there's this girl," Sirius said.

"So far, it's the story of your life," Remus snickered.

Sirius ignored him. "And you're talking about her recent break up and in the end she tells you that she and her ex boyfriend broke up because the truth was, he wasn't the one she really wanted. What the hell does that mean?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure it means, and go with me on this one, that he wasn't the one she really wanted," Peter joked.

Sirius threw his book at Peter, who ducked, and it ended up hitting Remus in the chest. "Oof," Remus said. "You couldn't have thrown a pillow?"

"Who's the girl?" James asked with a questioning smile.

"Nothing, that's irrelevant," Sirius said quickly.

"Well, I don't know much about girls-" James started.

"Ha!" Remus cried out with a laugh. James turned his head to glare at Remus. Remus cowered, "So…you were saying?"

James chuckled and looked back at Sirius. "When a girl is talking to a guy about her break up and she says she likes someone else, she usually likes the guy she's talking to," James said with a shrug.

Remus and Peter jerked their heads to look at Sirius. "Who's the girl?"

"No one!" Sirius insisted. She turned to James. "That's what I thought you were gonna say."

"And does it make sense?"

Sirius thought back to Gigi. The girl who hates him. The girl who will resent him for the rest of his life. The girl who has tried everything in her power to make sure she stays as far away from him as possible. Sirius sighed and looked up at James, "No, that doesn't make any sense."

It was silent for a few seconds. "So who's the girl?" Remus questioned with a smile.

"Kacie's cat," Sirius said, rolling his eyes.

"Who cares if the cat likes you, you have a talking cat!" James cried out jokingly.

"Forget I even mentioned anything guys," Sirius said.

"It doesn't matter about the girl-or cat in this instance-because you have Lucie," Remus said.

Sirius smiled. "I know…I was merely wondering."

"And you have Lacey," Peter noted.

Remus shrugged. "Not for much longer."

"Why?" the boys all asked.

"She doesn't think I tell her enough about my life. She feels like I'm trying to exclude her from everything," Remus said with a shrug.

"That's crazy…has she _seen _us? If she knew what we were like, she'd _want _to be excluded," Sirius joked.

Remus shrugged. "She doesn't think I'm intimate enough."

"Intimacy Schmintimacy," Sirius said. "Intimacy is an eight letter word for, here's my heart and soul please grind them into hamburger, stuff in your mouth as fast as possible, and enjoy."

Remus shook his head in disbelief. "I'm sorry I asked."

"Well, to be fair, you _didn't _ask," James noted. "Sirius just likes to add his input."

"You guys can't break up over a tiny little thing like intimacy," Sirius said.

"Tiny little thing? Intimacy is a big part of a relationship," Remus noted.

"Not in Sirius's relationship," James snickered, ducking as Sirius's hand came at him.

Sirius turned his attention back to Remus. "Okay, but you can't break up just because you don't clue her into what we Marauders do," Sirius said.

"She's also getting very suspicious about my leaving every month," Remus noted.

"Break up with her," Sirius said immediately.

Remus rolled his eyes. "It's amazing to me how you ever got a girlfriend."

Sirius flashed his teeth. "Because I'm so damn gorgeous."

"No…that's not it," Remus said.

"Because of my wit and charm," Sirius suggested.

"Definitely not because of that," Remus said.

"Because she was brainwashed?" James piped up.

Remus pointed to James. "Yup, that's it."

Sirius pouted. "I need new friends."

"Good luck finding ones that will put up with you," Peter teased.

Sirius paused to give thought to that. "Don't ever leave me."

Peter and Remus rolled their eyes and went back to playing rock, paper, scissors.

Sirius turned to James. "So, I have a question."

"Keep it to yourself," James said.

"You don't even know what I'm gonna ask," Sirius said.

"You're gonna ask something around the lines of why aren't I talking to Lily, why aren't I back together with her, or why am I letting her avoid me," James pointed out.

"Actually, I was _going _to ask that if you cut down all but one tree in a rainforest is that tree called a raintree," Sirius said. "But I like you questions a lot better!"

"No, no. I wanna answer _your _question," James insisted.

"Okay…so what's the answer?" Sirius asked.

James paused and then groaned, knowing he couldn't answer Sirius's question. "Damnit."

"Ha! So, let's answer something you _do _know," Sirius said. "Like, what the hell is up with you and Lily?"

"Nothing's up," James said.

"I know," Sirius said. "That's the problem!"

"Look, I was nice to her the other day, wasn't it?" James responded. "I let her signal the start of the hamburger eating contest."

"Oh wow, maybe tomorrow you'll let her open a door for you!" Sirius cried out sarcastically. James rolled his eyes. "At this rate, you guys will be married by the time you're ninety."

"I didn't yell at her. I didn't give her a dirty look. I didn't get up and leave," James said. "I think we're making progress."

"Progress would be you two making out!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Okay, I've been trying to stay out of this conversation," Remus said. "Mainly because I was beating Peter at rock, paper, scissors and didn't want to lose my concentration. But I agree with Sirius."

"What?" James asked.

"What?" Peter exclaimed.

"I've never heard that before," Sirius said. "I like the sound of it. I'm right. Someone agrees with me. I am the smartest person alive."

"I don't agree with that," Remus said.

James looked down at his watch. "And Sirius being right lasted a whole ten seconds."

"Oh be fair James," Peter said. "It lasted at least twelve seconds."

"James, you love Lily. She loves you. _Yes_, she accused you of cheating-" Remus started.

"How many times do we have to have this damn conversation?" James cried out. "I'll talk to Lily when I'm ready! I'll become friendly with her when I _know _I won't end up biting her head off! So until then, leave it alone, okay?"

All three boys sighed but nodded. After a few seconds of silence, Sirius piped up, "So when exactly will you be ready to be friendly to Lily?"

"Sirius!" James cried out.

"Okay, okay," Sirius said. Sirius sighed because of boredom but then he turned to James. "So just a few more hours?"

Remus handed James the book and he gladly threw it at Sirius.

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"You got the best grade out of all of us Si!" Lily cried out a few days later. "That's great!"

"That's not great! That actually means that I'm doing something _right_," Sirius said and then he gasped. "Is this what happens when you listen to the professor?"

"This is also what happens when you open a book," Remus said.

"I've opened a book before! In fact, just the other day I used my Transfiguration book," Sirius said boastfully.

"Yeah, to kill a _fly _with it," Remus said, rolling his eyes. "And you missed."

"But I put the fear of god in him," Sirius said with a grin.

Lily laughed and pointed to Sirius's exam. "This is good Sirius," Lily said.

Sirius turned to her. "So...you're not upset that you got worse than me?"

"Of course not," Lily said.

"Yes you are," Remus said.

"How do I get a worse grade than the boy who thinks about sex and girls all the time and never studies?" Lily cried out.

"I don't think of sex and girls all the-" Sirius trailed off. "Whoa, look at the hot babe to the right."

"My point exactly," Lily said, throwing her hands up in defeat.

Lily shook her head at Sirius and looked down at his great marks. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Lily asked Sirius.

"Yeah, but it's gonna take a lot of cookies to cover James's entire bed in cookie crumbs," Sirius said.

"I was thinking that if you apply yourself more, you could really succeed at Hogwarts and get into a good wizarding university," Lily said.

"We totally were not thinking the same thing," Sirius said.

"So how exactly did you get such a good grade?" Lily questioned.

"I studied for nearly three hours," Sirius said.

"Oh please," Lily said, rolling her eyes.

"Don't please me!" Sirius cried out. "Wait, that came out wrong." Sirius paused. "Actually that came out just about rig-"

"Don't finish that sentence," Lily insisted.

"You know what you should totally exploit?" Remus said with an evil grin.

"Girls?" Sirius asked.

Remus rolled his eyes. "I was thinking more like making fun of James."

"Huh?"

"Because of his bad grade in Transfiguration," Remus said. "Because even though he's not in this class with us, you got better than me, Peter, and Lily which is saying something."

"So you want me to throw James's bad marks in his face and prove to him that I can be smarter than him?" Sirius asked.

"Exactly."

"Remus! That's awful. That's just plain mean," Sirius said.

"So you're gonna do it?" Remus said.

"Oh yeah," Sirius said. "Right after I find a bunch of cookies to mash into his sheets."

"James got a bad grade in Transfiguration?" Lily spoke up.

"AGH!" Sirius cried out.

Lily looked him.

"You scared me," Sirius said.

"Yeah, I got that from your shrieking," Lily said.

"I just forgot you were there," Sirius said with a shrug.

"Oh how I love to hear that," Lily said sarcastically. "But can we get back to the subject."

"Sure," Sirius said. "My suggestion is we get the house elves to bake the cookies for us."

"That was _not _the subject," Lily said.

"Are you sure?" Sirius asked. "Because I'm pretty sure that was mentioned."

"Why did he get a bad grade?" Lily asked. "That test wasn't too hard."

"Why do you care?" Remus asked.

"I need to know just how much I should throw my good grade in his face," Lily joked.

"Hey! You can't do that! That's _my _job!" Sirius cried out.

"Sirius, I was kidding," Lily said.

"I wasn't!"

Lily rolled her eyes. "I'll see you guys later."

"Where are you going?" Remus asked, reaching the portrait hole.

"She's going off to sulk about how much smarter than her I am," Sirius said with a grin. He then stopped and pointed to a painting. "Has that always been there?"

"That's the Fat Lady," Remus said. "She's the one you give the password to every time you want to enter."

"Are you sure?" Sirius asked.

Lily laughed a little. "I don't think I'll ever have to worry about you bring smarter than me Si."

Sirius held up his parchment. "I got a better grade! I _am _smarter!"

"Bye Sirius!" Lily called out over her shoulder.

Sirius turned his attention back to the Fat Lady. "Seriously, how long has that portrait been there?"

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"Okay, so we'll stand outside of Potions when the Slytherins have it," James said, pointing to his piece of parchment.

Sirius looked down at the parchment. "But then there will be lots of witnesses."

"Not if we have the invisibility cloak," Peter noted.

"So who are we turning purple and for how long?" Sirius asked with a grin.

Remus trudged into the room and plunked down onto his bed, with his head facing the ceiling.

The three boys looked over at him curiously as he heaved a huge sigh.

"Anything wrong Moony?" Sirius dared to ask.

"No," Remus mumbled.

"You sure?" Sirius asked. Remus nodded.

Sirius shrugged and the three boys went back to studying the parchment. "I say we make the spell permanent for at least a day," Peter suggested.

"You guys know that pranks are against the Hogwarts rules, right?" Remus said, staring up at the ceiling and not bothering to look at his three best friends.

"Yeah, I've been trying to get the Hogwarts contract changed to allow pranks ever since I've been Head Boy," James said.

"Any luck?" Sirius asked

"We're still using the invisibility cloak…what do _you _think?" James asked.

Sirius paused. "I think we need a better Head Boy."

James threw his quill at Sirius.

"You're not getting this back," Sirius said with a grin.

"Oh, so are _you _going to write down our prank plans?" James asked.

Sirius thought about it and turned to the parchment. "Is Slytherin spelled with three i's or two y's?"

"Neither," James said, snatching his quill back.

"I think it's about time you guys get caught," Remus said.

"Uh, Remus?" James noted. "We _always _get caught."

Remus shook his head back and forth. "It's amazing how you three are still here at Hogwarts."

"We're good at coming up with the pranks," Sirius said. "It's the not getting caught part that we have trouble with."

"So Moony," James said, shifting so he was lying on his stomach on the floor. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong!" Remus snapped. He shifted in his bed. "Except that these blankets are itchy. This pillow is lumpy. And the ceiling is all dark and depressing!"

Sirius turned to James and Peter. "Somehow I have a feeling that isn't all that's wrong."

"You're right," Remus said. "This bed is also too damn small!"

"You're the shortest out of all of us. The bed's fine," Sirius said.

"I'm not the shortest. Peter's shorter."

Sirius glanced at Peter and then looked back up at Remus. "Are you sure?"

Remus growled a little under his breath.

"Come over here and stand back to back with Peter. I'm still not positive Peter's shorter than you," Sirius said.

Remus finally took his eyes off the ceiling and glared at Sirius.

"Or we can do it later…" Sirius cowered.

"My girlfriend broke up with me," Remus finally admitted.

"I _knew _there was something more wrong than the bed blanket!" Sirius cried out.

Remus glared at him once again.

"But that's not the point."

"You okay Remus?" James asked and then shook his head. "Ugh, what a stupid question. My girlfriend completely ripped my heart out and stomped on it a hundred times and then gave me a bullshit reason as to why she doesn't want to be with me anymore, but yeah I'm great!"

Remus just gave him a blank stare.

"But I'm sure you had a good break up," James said with a sheepish smile.

"Oh yeah, me staring up at the ceiling complaining about my pillow means a good break up," Remus said sarcastically, rolling his eyes at his friends.

"What are the chances that's true?" James asked.

Sirius stood up. "Well, there's clearly only one way to help you get over this."

"We are _not _going to a strip club," Remus urged.

Sirius slouched down and pouted. "You take the fun out of everything."

"Yes, how _dare _I take the fun out of Lacey breaking up with me," Remus said, rolling his eyes.

"I'm glad you see it my way," Sirius said.

"Do you want us to get you anything?" Peter asked.

Remus sat up in his bed and looked at Sirius and James. "Why can't you two be nice and supportive like Peter?"

Peter shrugged. "I just want an excuse to leave the room so I don't have to be around mopey dopey you."

Remus threw his pillow at him. Peter grinned, "You want me to take the lumps out of the pillow?"

That response got another pillow thrown at him.

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"Hey Lily, what is that you're doing?" Sirius asked.

Lily glanced down at her parchment. "Homework."

Sirius looked at it. "Oh…so _that's _what that looks like."

Lily rolled her eyes and leaned back on the couch. "Why are you hiding out in here?"

"What makes you think I'm hiding?"

"Because you're by yourself and asking me about homework," Lily said.

Sirius sat down next to Lily. "Remus is driving me crazy."

Lily choked on air and coughed a little. "_Remus _is driving you crazy? I thought it was usually you and James driving _him _crazy."

"Funny how things turn out huh?" Sirius said in a voice that didn't make it sound funny at all. Sirius shrugged and took a cookie from the table.

"Those have been sitting there for a week now," Lily noted.

Sirius glanced down at his cookie and shrugged. "It's still a cookie." Sirius bit into it and immediately spit it out. "No it's not!"

Lily laughed at Sirius trying to get the taste of the bad cookie out of his mouth. "So what's wrong with Remus?" she wondered.

"He and his girlfriend broke up," Sirius said. "And I know I can't relate, because I've never had a girl break my heart before-"

"You were too busy breaking their hearts," Lily muttered.

"But he's just all depressed," Sirius said with a shrug. "He's annoyed when I sleep, saying that I breathe too loud. He's annoyed when I'm doing homework, saying that I write too loud. He's even annoyed when I sit there and do nothing, saying it's too quiet!"

Lily shrugged. "That's your problem."

"So I think I'm just gonna sleep on this couch tonight," Sirius said.

Lily jerked her head up. "That's my problem." Lily got up from the couch. "Let's go find Remus and cheer him up!" Lily urged.

"Nah," Sirius said. "He'll just yell at me for breathing too loud."

"So stop breathing at all!" Lily insisted.

"But then I'd die."

Lily looked at him. "So?"

"HEY!"

Lily shrugged. "That's your problem."

"I'll die here and stink up your room. And then I'll come back and haunt you," Sirius said with a grin.

"That's my problem," Lily said, and then grabbed Sirius's arm. "Let's go find Remus!"

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"Hey Giliba!" Sirius called out as she saw Gigi turn the corner.

Gigi stopped, debating whethere to walk faster or turn around to see what Sirius wanted. After a few seconds, she turned around and nervously stood there for a few seconds. After thinking it over, she slowly walked over to Sirius. "Hi."

"Do you have any idea what Dibbles was trying to say in Muggle Studies today?" Sirius questioned.

Gigi stared at him. "I'm not taking Muggle Studies."

"Then I guess the answer is no," Sirius said.

Gigi just rolled her eyes with a hint of a smile. "So I hear Remus is getting pretty hard to be around lately."

Sirius shrugged. "Yeah, but it's understandable. It's been awhile since he's had a serious girlfriend and she dumped him."

"Because of the whole werewolf thing?" Gigi asked.

Sirius froze. "Werewolf thing?" Sirius asked nervously. "You mean how Remus loves werewolves and collects little stuffed animals and pictures of them and even-"

"Please stop."

"Will do," Sirius said. "So…how do you know?"

Gigi shrugged. "It's not that hard to figure out. I just came to my own conclusions when we went over werewolf patterns in class last year. But it's pretty cool how you guys became animagi to help him out."

"Oh," Sirius said. "Came to your own conclusions on that too?"

"No," Gigi said. "I overheard you and James discussing it a few months ago."

Sirius laughed. "Well, she doesn't know he's a werewolf. But because of the werewolf thing, Remus has to watch everything he says. And Lacey just felt he wasn't being open enough."

"How dare Remus not talk about the many stupid pranks you guys pull and how you four get good grades even though you hardly ever open a book and how you three are illegal animagi and he turns into a hairy creature who howls at the moon every month."

"Hey!" Sirius cried out. "I don't get good grades!"

Gigi laughed and rolled her eyes at the comment. She couldn't help thinking how weird it was that she was laughing at something the guy she supposedly hated just said.

Sirius laughed along with her and then bit his lip anxiously. "Can I ask you a question?"

Gigi shrugged. "Sure."

"What did you mean by your comment the other day?" Sirius asked.

"My comment on what?" Gigi asked. "Because I seriously don't think you're asking me what I meant when I said chicken was better than turkey at lunch today."

"Turkey is way better!" Sirius cried out. "But that's not the point. What did you mean when you said Jesse wasn't the one you wanted?"

Gigi tensed up. She had hoped that he forgot about that. "Just what it sounds like. There's nothing else to say about it."

"But do you-"

"Black, we had that conversation like a week ago," Gigi said. "It's over and done with. I meant absolutely nothing by it, okay?"

"Okay, but don't you-"

"What don't you get by it's over and done with?" Gigi cried out.

"How come you always do this?" Sirius asked calmly.

"Do what?" Gigi snapped.

"How come whenever we start to have a real conversation, you pull back?" Sirius questioned. "You get all angry and start a fight."

"I do not," Gigi protested.

"You just snapped my head off saying I don't know the meaning of over and done with," Sirius said.

"It's not my fault you don't listen!" Gigi exclaimed.

"This is exactly what I'm talking about!" Sirius burst out. "You just start yelling for no reason! Why? Why do you _always _do this?"

Gigi didn't say anything at first and then looked up into Sirius's eyes and shrugged. "Because I never know what to say to you."

Sirius was taken aback by that response. "Why?"

Gigi leaned up against the wall and crossed her arms. "Why Lucie?"

Sirius was now really taken aback. "Um…what?"

"Why did you choose Lucie?"

Sirius just kept staring incredulously at Gigi. "What?"

"Why did you pick her?" Gigi rephrased.

"I-I don't know what you mean," Sirius stumbled.

"What was different about her?" Gigi asked and then sighed. "How did she get you to change?"

Sirius looked into Gigi's eyes. It took a few seconds, but finally Gigi looked up and met his gaze. "Lucie didn't make me change." Gigi stared at him, waiting for more. Sirius looked sincerely at Gigi. "You did."

Now it was Gigi's turn to be taken aback by a response. "What?"

Sirius stepped away and started pacing. "I was such an asshole."

"No argument so far," Gigi said.

Sirius sighed. "I was scared." Gigi looked at him persistently. "Everything was happening so fast and I just couldn't wrap my head around it all." Sirius sighed again. "But then I saw that you could go from one night stands to a relationship with Jesse. I figured if you could, I could figure out this commitment thing also."

"So, what you're saying is that…" Gigi trailed off.

"That Lucie had nothing to do with me wanting to change," Sirius ended.

"So, then why'd you choose her?" Gigi asked.

Sirius stood there for the longest time and then finally looked up at Gigi. "Because you were already taken."

"Wha-" Gigi didn't get to finish her sentence because Sirius placed his lips on hers at that moment. Right away, Gigi could feel fireworks and she wrapped her arms around Sirius's neck and deepened the kiss. She opened her mouth a little and let Sirius explore her mouth with his tongue. Sirius placed his hand in the small of her neck and intensified the kiss. She let her tongue enter his mouth and tightened her grip around his neck.

They broke apart and then just stared at each other for a few seconds, trying to come up with someone to say. "Well…I'll cross that off my to-do list," Sirius finally said.

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_THERE: i FINALLY got them together. are you all happy:o)_

_REVIEW! _


	30. Butthead, Mystery MakeOut Girl, Pig Sex

**_Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 30_**

_here you go...another chapter! Hope you guys like it! Don't forget to review! Thanks to the 37 of you who reviewed my last chapter!_

_Disclaimer: you know who i'm not._

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"Hey guys?" Lily asked. "Have you seen-"

"SHHHHH!" everyone exclaimed.

"Seriously, a hello would have been just fine," Lily said. Lily turned to Kacie. "What's going on?"

"We're listening to Sirius and Lucie argue," Kacie whispered.

Lily put her hands on her hips. "Do you guys _always _sit on the steps and listen to Sirius's fights?"

Remus, Peter, Kacie, and James looked up at Lily. "Yes."

"This is _wrong_," Lily reprimanded. "This is only Sirius's and Lucie's business. It's their personal life!"

"So does that mean you're not gonna listen?" Remus asked.

"GO TO HELL!" Lucie shouted.

"Move over," Lily said, as she sat down next to Remus on the stairs. "So what are they fighting about?"

"Well Kylie overheard Robyn tell Krisztian-" Peter started.

"The short version please," Lily said.

"That _was _the short version," Remus whispered.

"Oh," Lily said and turned her attention back to Peter. "Continue."

"Well Krisztian was caught with a letter from Georgie who supposedly saw Sirius kiss some girl in an empty hallway," Peter said.

"The _short _version would have been Lucie found out Sirius cheated on him," Lily said.

"Hey, be glad I didn't go into detail about how Robyn told Krisztian and what was in the letter Georgie wrote," Peter noted.

"I thank you for that," Lily said with a laugh. She turned to the group. "So, what girl?"

"Haven't heard that part yet," Remus said. "If you would stop your yapping, maybe we could hear."

Lily whacked Remus over the head but shut her mouth to listen to the fight.

"I thought you changed! I thought you were different!" Lucie cried out.

Sirius just stood there and shifted his weight. "I am."

Lucie laughed meanly. "Really? Because kissing another girl when you have a girlfriend completely contradicts that statement!"

"Look Luce," Sirius said calmly. "I _am_ a changed man."

"Oh but what? You want to be a changed man with this mystery make out girl?" Lucie asked haughtily.

Sirius didn't say anything and instead stared off into space.

"OH MY GOSH!" Lucie cried out. "You _do _want to be a changed guy with this girl! You want a relationship with this girl."

Sirius once again said nothing.

"Okay, now I've got to know who this girl is," Lucie said. "What tramp is stealing my boyfriend?"

"Lucie," Sirius said calmly. "It isn't like that. I like you…I _really _like you."

"So then what is it?" Lucie cried out. "Is this girl a better kisser than me? Is this girl paying you? Is-"

"It's not like that! I'm not that petty or stupid!" Sirius exclaimed, getting aggravated. He hesitated. "Okay, that's debatable."

Lucie glared at him.

Sirius sighed. "You were my first real girlfriend. The word commitment was used first with you."

"Commitment?" Lucie asked with an evil laugh. "Obviously you don't know the definition of commitment." Lucie sighed. "Who's the girl?"

Down the hallway, around the corner, and down the stairs, Gigi showed up. "Hey guys," Gigi said.

"SHHHHHHH!" they all hissed.

"If you don't like me, just tell me," Gigi said.

"Sirius and Lucie are fighting," Lily said.

Gigi froze. "Oh…about what?" Gigi asked. "Did he use her bra as a catapult to throw water balloons at the first years?"

Everyone turned away from looking up the stairs and looked back at Gigi. Gigi gave a sheepish grin. "It's been done," she said with a shrug.

"For your information, he snogged another girl," Kacie said.

Gigi's face got really flustered and she had a hard time standing up. "Did…did you hear who?"

"No, they got really quiet at that point," James said. "Plus you walked in and interrupted everything."

Lily looked up at Gigi suspiciously. "Why do you care?"

"If I'm gonna ridicule Black, I need all the facts," Gigi lied.

Just then, Lucie came storming down the stairs. She stopped when she saw the five friends try to scramble away. She looked right at Gigi. "Thanks a lot." And with that, she whisked between James and Peter and stomped off.

All six friends turned their heads towards Gigi with questioning looks. Gigi shrugged, "I gave the bra back to her."

"Hmm, that sounded more like an I hate you thanks," Remus noted.

Gigi shrugged again. "She was mad that we stole it in the first place."

"Okay stop!" Lily cried out. "You did _not _steal her bra and you did _not _throw water balloons at first years."

"Well not since fifth year," Gigi muttered.

"So what's going on here?" Lily demanded.

"I don't know," Gigi said. "I just don't care about Black's life that much. I was trying to make light of the situation."

"What are you guys doing here?" Sirius asked, turning the corner and standing at the top of the stairs.

"I was just proving to James that the stairs really _were _made of granite," Remus said guiltily.

Sirius turned to James. "The only way to truly be sure is to lick the stairs."

"Yeah…I don't care that much," James decided.

Sirius stared at all the guilty faces. "What did you guys hear?"

"Oh not much," James said with a shrug. "You talked about the weather, you mentioned Quidditch, and I think she said something about apples and oranges."

"We didn't talk about any of those things," Sirius said.

"Well maybe you should have," James said. "Would have been a _much _more enjoyable conversation."

Sirius put his hands on his hips and then froze when he noticed Gigi standing in the background. "Oh," was all he could think of to say.

"You kissed another girl?" Remus asked. "I thought you finally learned what commitment means!"

"Look, that conversation-" Sirius started.

"Who was the girl?" Lily asked.

Sirius stopped mid-sentence. "You didn't hear that part?"

Everyone shook their heads and both Sirius and Gigi let out a sigh of relief. "It was no one important." Gigi tensed up when he said that but just turned her head and looked away. Sirius tried making eye contact with her but she refused to look at him.

"But you said you wanted to be a changed guy for this person. You said you want to be in a relationship with this person," James said. "That doesn't say 'no one important' to me."

Gigi cleared her throat. "You said those things?"

"Actually no, I didn't say any of those things," Sirius said nervously.

"You didn't have to!" Peter cried out. "Lucie figured it out from the look on your face!"

"How do you know?" Sirius snapped. "Were you in the room? Did you see my face? Did you hear every word that came out of Lucie and my mouth?"

"Sirius, you-" Gigi started.

"_Sirius?_" Peter, James, Lily, Kacie, and Remus all exclaimed.

"What?" Gigi asked casually. "Isn't that his name?"

"To every person on this earth but _you_," Remus answered.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure you thought his name was asshole, jerk, or butthead," Lily said.

"Never did I call him a butthead," Gigi argued.

"Not to his face," Kacie muttered.

"You are _so _missing the point," James said.

"Can we get back to him?" Gigi snapped, pointing at Sirius.

"So are you and Lucie over?" James asked.

Sirius nodded.

"And who's this mystery make out girl?" Remus asked.

"Can we please stop calling her that?" Sirius insisted.

"Sure," Remus said. "Tell us her real name and we'll call her by that."

Sirius paused. "Mystery make out girl is fine."

Gigi stood up. "I'm gonna go," she said abruptly, not daring to even glance Sirus's way.

Sirius gazed over at her. "Me too," Sirius said, and we walked back around the corner and into his room. Gigi walked down the stairs and out of the common room.

"What's with those two?" James asked.

"I don't know, but they've been acting really strange for two days now," Lily said.

"Maybe Gigi is the mystery make out girl," Peter said. All five friends exchanged glances and burst out laughing.

"Ha!" James exclaimed, holding his side from laughing so hard. "That'll be the day."

Lily paused for a second. "They _have _kissed before…"

The other four friends stopped laughing and paused to think about it. "Yeah, but then Gigi completely humiliated him and told him it meant nothing," Kacie noted.

"That's true…" Peter said slowly.

"Let's ask them by subtly working it into a conversation. Make it subtle," Lily said.

Gigi came back just then. "I forgot my book." She glanced at all five of her friends staring at her intently. "What?"

"What do you know about the mystery make out girl?" James asked.

"So…I'm guessing we'll try the subtle thing another time?" Lily questioned.

James shrugged and turned back to Gigi. "So…what do you know about her?"

"That someone should send her an 'I'm sorry you had to kiss that thing' card," Gigi retorted.

"Hm," Remus said. "I don't think Hallmark makes those cards."

Gigi rolled her eyes and left.

"Something is seriously up with that girl," Kacie said. "There's gossip to be spread about Black and instead she's doing _homework_."

"Sirius is acting strange too," James concluded.

"Well what makes you think that?" Lily asked. "He seems to be acting the same as usual to me."

Sirius appeared at the top of the stairs again. "Don't you guys have a better place to be hanging out?"

James pointed to the books and parchment in Sirius's hand. "Where are you going?"

"Library," Sirius answered and descended the stairs and disappeared.

Lily turned to the group. "Yup, something is _definitely _up," Lily confirmed.

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"Giliba wait up!" Sirius called out, jogging over to her.

Gigi looked up and tried to hide the smile that was creeping up on her face. "If you're here to ask me about what Dibbles was teaching in Muggle Studies, once again I have no idea."

Sirius laughed. "Just wanted to see what you were up to."

Gigi gave him a warm smile. "What are we doing?"

"Talking," Sirius said. "It's called a conversation…ever have one before?"

Gigi hit him playfully. "I mean what are we doing? You and me. Us."

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "Us?"

"Did you and Lucie really break up?"

"I'm not sure," Sirius said. "Does telling me to go to hell, fuck off, and never talk to her again constitute as breaking up?"

Gigi smiled. "Yeah, in girl language that pretty much means you're broken up."

"Then yup, we're through," Sirius said.

"So what does that mean?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure it means she'll slap me if I tried to kiss her," Sirius said. Gigi gave him a look. Sirius shrugged. "I don't know what this means."

"Okay, I have another question," Gigi said.

"Sure I'll make out with you," Sirius said with a grin.

"That wasn't the question," Gigi said.

"You sure? Because I like that question," Sirius said with a laugh.

Gigi hit him again. "Did you mean what you said? About wanting a relationship with the mystery make out girl?"

"You know the name of the mystery make out girl, you don't have to call it that," Sirius said.

"Well I wasn't positive if it was me," Gigi said with a shrug.

"Huh?"

"How do I know it's not someone else?"

"You think I made out with someone else after I made out with you?" Sirius asked.

"It's happened before," Gigi muttered.

Sirius backed away a little. "Are you always gonna throw that in my face?"

"I don't know," Gigi said. "Are you _always _gonna do it?"

"NO!" Sirius cried out. "I did it _once!_" Sirius sighed angrily and looked up at Gigi. "I didn't snog anyone after I snogged you. Damnit Giliba, I didn't even kiss _Lucie _since you and I kissed!"

"Because she was fucking _mad _at you! She wouldn't have kissed you even if you were dying and needed CPR!" Gigi exclaimed.

"Well I don't know about that," Sirius said. Gigi gave him a look. "Yeah I would have died."

"You are _so _not getting the point!" Gigi cried out.

"So this is how it's gonna be?" Sirius asked with a heavy sigh. "Every time we get together, we're gonna yell at each other?"

"It's been that way for a year and a half," Gigi said icily. "I've gotten rather used to it." Gigi sighed. "We were stupid to think this could work." Gigi gave him one more look and then turned around and walked the other way.

"So that's it?" Sirius called out helplessly. "Giliba, I know I hurt you." Gigi just shook her head back and forth and kept walking away. "I turned to Hayden because I was afraid! I was falling for you…_hard_ and I didn't know how to handle it!" Gigi slowed down but kept walking. "I think I loved you!"

Gigi stopped and turned around. She just looked up at him but didn't say anything.

"And believe me, the moment I figure out what the hell the definition of love is, I'll tell you if that's what I was feeling," Sirius said.

Gigi looked at him apprehensively and bit her lip.

"I was scared of what I was feeling," Sirius said. "I have always been a player and I was a one night stand guy. So I figured acting like what we did didn't happen and ignoring it would make it go away."

"Did it work?"

"We're in the same place we were a year and a half ago, aren't we?" Sirius asked.

Gigi gave a slight smile. "You hurt me ever again, and you're a dead man."

"Got it," Sirius said, taking a few steps forward.

"Don't think I won't hex you," Gigi said.

"I understand," Sirius said, taking another step towards her.

"I've turned you pink for three days," Gigi said. "Don't think I won't do it again."

"I've learned the countercurse," Sirius said with a smirk.

"Then I'll turn you _orange_," Gigi noted.

"I'll start working on the countercurse," Sirius said, creeping forward.

There was only a little bit of room between Gigi and Sirius. Gigi looped her arms around Sirius's neck. "You better not screw this up. Orange is _not _your color."

Sirius threw his head back and laughed. Then he looked sincerely into his eyes. "I'd be an idiot to screw this up." Gigi nodded in agreement and placed her lips on his and he eagerly returned the kiss.

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"It's a simple question!" Sirius cried out, sticking a piece of toast in his mouth.

"Asking whether I've ever seen a pig have sex is _not _a simple question," James said. "It's not even a _normal _question."

"Of course it's not a normal question," Remus said. "It came out of Padfoot's mouth."

"But what does it look like?" Sirius asked. "Do they do it in the mud? Or what about if you go to a zoo, could you just happen to come across two pigs humping?"

Peter glanced at his piece of bacon and pushed it back. "I am officially never eating bacon again."

James looked at his ham. "Yeah, ham is out too." He pushed his plate back.

"Hey boys," Kacie said.

"Kacie," Sirius said gently. "We are not boys. We are mature grown men."

Kacie thought about what he said. "Hey kids."

"Mature grown men?" James asked, raising an eyebrow. "This coming from the guy who's asking about pig sex."

Lily put down her piece of ham. "Ex_cuse _me?"

"How bout horses?" Sirius asked, chomping down on some oatmeal. "Ever see them have sex?"

"Sirius," Remus said. "We haven't seen _any _animal have sex."

"Except you of course," James said to Sirius.

"You guys do realize that you're having this conversation at the breakfast table, right?" Gigi asked.

The boys just gave her a blank stare.

"Where people actually like to _eat_," Gigi said. "With_out _seeing it come back up."

"Oh c'mon, it was just a simple question," Sirius said.

"No, a simple question would be how are you," Lily noted.

"How are you?" Sirius asked.

Lily rolled her eyes and shrugged. "Fine."

"Now," Sirius said. "Have you ever seen a pig have sex?"

Lily shook her head in disbelief. "Why do I even try?"

"We learned back in first year to just let it go," Remus said. "Don't answer any of his dumb questions and he'll get bored."

"I will _not _get bored. I want to know what pig sex looks like!" Sirius said. "Oooh, blueberry scones!"

"See?" Remus said. "Now he's over it."

"Does he ever take time for a breath?" Lily asked, watching Sirius stuff a scone and a croissant into his mouth at the same time.

"We tend to like it when he's stuffing his face," Peter noted. "It's the only time he's not asking stupid questions."

Gigi stole a glance over at Sirius and even though his mouth was completely full and he looked like a chipmunk with his cheeks puffed out, she smiled. Sirius saw her looking at him and winked back at her.

"Hey look Si, there's Lucie," Remus said.

Sirius glanced over at Lucie sitting at a nearby table and shrugged.

"She's whispering," James said.

"So?" Sirius asked, taking a sip of coffee.

"It's never a good thing when a girl is whispering," James noted.

"Why not?" Gigi, Kacie, Lily questioned.

"Because when girls whisper, it's usually them coming up with a plan to get back at a guy who made them mad," James said.

Gigi looked at him. "You guys know about that?"

Sirius glanced over again. "Oh c'mon. That doesn't necessarily mean she's plotting to get revenge against me."

"She's pointing at you," James indicated.

Sirius paused. "I'm a dead man."

"Maybe you shouldn't have cheated on her," Remus said.

"With Gabriella," James added.

"What?" Lily and Kacie asked.

"What?" Sirius questioned.

"_What?_" Gigi cried out.

James shrugged. "Mystery make out girl is too long of a phrase."

"So you decided to call her Gabriella?" Sirius asked.

"We decided to just take one of your old hook up buddies and pretend that she's the mystery girl," James said.

"Well that's stupid," Sirius said.

"No its not. Who else would you have snogged?"

"Look, why don't you just not call her anything at all?" Sirius snapped.

"Oh c'mon Sirius. This is the girl you supposedly want a relationship with. I didn't think it was possible but you were with Lucie for nearly two months. And now you want a _second _relationship…and you're not gonna tell us who the girl is?" James wondered.

"We'll find out," Peter said. "We're expert eavesdroppers."

"Yeah I know," Sirius muttered. "You learned it from me."

"So?"

"There is no girl," Sirius said.

Everyone except Gigi exchanged looks and burst out laughing. "You haven't even gone a _week _without a girl," James said.

"Can we talk about something else?" Gigi demanded.

Everyone slowly turned to her. "We're mocking Sirius and making him uncomfortable and you _don't _want to be a part of this?"

Gigi took a piece of toast and crammed it into her mouth. "Nope." And with that, she grabbed her books and left the Great Hall.

"Hmm, not the answer I was expecting," James said.

"Seriously, what the hell is wrong with that girl?" Kacie asked.

"She's been disappearing lately, she's been smiling _way _too much, she doesn't want to make fun of you," Lily noted.

Kacie looked at her and then gasped. "Oh my gosh! She has a guy…a boyfriend!"

Sirius spit out his coffee. "Ew, Sirius!" Remus cried out, jumping up off the bench. Sirius ignored him and paid attention to Lily and Kacie's conversation.

"And she's hiding it!"

"I'm sure that's not it," Sirius said quickly. "She just got out of a relationship with Jesse. And it's Giliba, she doesn't have boyfriends. She has one night stands and that's it."

"And where did she go right now?" Lily asked, completely ignoring Sirius.

"Muggle Studies," Sirius said really fast before anyone else could respond.

Lily and Kacie stared at him. "She doesn't take Muggle Studies."

"You sure? Because I'm pretty sure she's taking it," Sirius said.

"Sirius…_you _take Muggle Studies," James noted.

Sirius gave a sheepish grin. "Okay, I'm leaving now. Bye."

"Something is wrong with him," Remus said, shaking his head.

"Yeah…he left half a scone on his plate!" James exclaimed, picking it up and stuffing it into his mouth.

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"So you and James have been getting along pretty well," Kacie noted a few days later, blowing on her fingernails.

Lily looked up from her magazine and shrugged. "I suppose."

Gigi looked her up and down. "Oh don't act all casual. You know you're so happy about that."

Lily shut her magazine quickly and crept forward. "I can't believe how nice he's being!"

"I think he just realizes being friends with you is better than shutting you out," Gigi said with a shrug.

"Friends?" Lily asked, raising her eyebrows. "He _so _wants me."

Gigi and Kacie laughed at her joke. "I'm glad you can finally joke about it."

"Who's joking?" Lily asked with a wink.

Gigi and Kacie laughed again. "Does this finally mean we can put the dart board away?"

"We should find a good home for it," Lily said. She turned to Gigi. "You want it? We have plenty of pictures of Sirius you can place on it."

Gigi laughed uncomfortably. "I'm good for now."

"Look, there he is," Kacie exclaimed. "Don't you wanna complain about how ugly he is or how big his head is or how he needs to learn what a brush is?"

Gigi went back to flipping through an old magazine. "Maybe another time."

Kacie pouted. "It was more fun when you hated him. At least I got some amusement out of it."

"Hello ladies," Sirius said suavely with a wink.

Gigi thought about what Kacie said and looked up at Sirius. "Go away."

Kacie turned to her. "That's the best you could come up with?"

Gigi turned back to Sirius. "Go away…you jerk."

"You work on it," Kacie said.

"How are my three most favorite girls doing?" Sirius said, winking again. Sirius turned to Gigi and shrugged. "Well _two _favorite ladies," he directed towards Lily and Kacie.

"Stop acting so charming," Lily said, taking her magazine back from Gigi. "None of us will go out with you."

"Is that why you think I'm here?" Sirius asked. "Because I want to hit on you girls? Because I want one of you to keep me entertained? Because I'm bored and I want to snog one of you?"

All three girls exchanged glances and looked up at Sirius. "Yes."

"And it ain't gonna happen," Kacie said.

Sirius paused. "Damnit," Sirius muttered and then turned around and left.

"I wonder what snogging him would be like," Lily said.

Kacie and Gigi stared at her.

Lily looked up. "Oh…did I say that outloud?"

"Ask Gigi," Kacie said, turning to look at the girl

Gigi choked on air. "What? Why would you ask me? What makes you think I've snogged Sirius?"

"Because we've _seen _you," Lily said.

"_What? _How?" Gigi cried out.

"When we were out in the woods way back when getting drunk," Lily said.

Gigi bit her lip and let out a nervous giggle. "Oh yeah…I forgot you were there."

"Seriously, what has gotten into you lately?" Lily asked, finally closing her magazine.

"What do you mean?"

"You're so…jumpy," Lily decided. "And happy."

"Yeah, who's the guy?" Kacie asked, closing the bottle of nail polish.

Once again, Gigi choked on air. She sat there for several seconds, trying to come up with something to say. Lie and tell them she has a random hook up guy who they probably don't even know or care about. Lie and tell them she doesn't have a guy? Or tell them the truth about Sirius? She paused. Yeah, the truth was probably best.

Gigi turned to her friends. "I don't have a guy." Or lying is always a good option.

"Then why do you disappear all the time?" Lily questioned.

"It's getting closer and closer to graduation. I have been in the library studying and doing homework," Gigi said.

"I'd believe that if your grades didn't still suck," Kacie said. Gigi threw a pillow at her.

"C'mon guys. Jesse and I just broke up," Gigi said. "And I'm better at one night stands, not boyfriends."

Lily looked at her curiously. "That's exactly what Sirius said."

Gigi decided not to respond and opened her DADA book.

"Okay I'm hungry," Kacie announced.

Gigi and Lily looked at her for her to continue.

Kacie shrugged. "That's it. That's all I wanted to say."

"There's this new invention that will help you with that," Lily said. "It's called food."

"My toenails are wet," Kacie pouted. "I can't walk right now."

"You are such a girl," Lily muttered.

"Yeah, it's a quality most guys like," Kacie said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh really?" Gigi asked. "What guys?"

"That was mean and heartless," Kacie said. "But I'll forgive you if you go get me some cookies."

Gigi gave her a look.

"Fine, stay a bitch," Kacie said.

Lily got up from the couch. "I'll get you some cookies."

Kacie beamed. "Thanks," she said. "And some brownies."

"And I could use some hot chocolate and an apple," Gigi said. Lily turned to her and glared. "But suddenly I'm not very hungry."

Lily laughed and left the room. She headed down the stairs and down a few hallways to get to the kitchens thinking about how wonderful her friends were. She turned right to get to the entrance of the kitchens but immediately backed up and peeked her head out from the corner.

"Cookies, brownies, blueberry pie, and soda?" Nancie asked. "Do you _want _me to get fat?"

James laughed. "I'm not trying to get you fat," James said. "The pie has fruit in it! It's healthy!"

Nancie laughed along with James and looped her arm around his. "I'm glad you asked me out," Nancie said sincerely.

James shrugged and smiled. "And I'm glad we're going to try this commitment thing."

Nancie smiled back at him. "James Potter…my boyfriend. Has a nice ring to it."

Lily just stood there completely frozen as James and Nancie walked in the opposite direction.

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_oh wow...what's gonna happen next? I thought James and Lily were gonna get back together, so why is he with that slut (hehe)? When are Lily and James gonna get back together? Is "the gang" gonna find out about Gigi and Sirius? _

_review to find out!_


	31. Musgrave, Schmancie, Strip Quidditch

**_Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 31_**

_thanks to everyone who reviewed, i really enjoy reading them! this story is 75 probably only about eight or nine chapters left :o( _

_disclaimer: everything belongs to me. i'm J.K. Rowling. _

_...i wish. _

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Lily stomped into her commons room, threw the magazines across the room, and sat down where the magazines previously were.

Gigi and Kacie looked up at her. "Why are you so mad? What did the magazines ever do to you? Why do you look like you want to kill someone-" Gigi started.

"And most importantly, where are my cookies?" Kacie asked. Lily gave her a death glare. Kacie cowered, "Cookies make you fat anyway."

Gigi looked up. "And did you happen to get me my apple?" Lily now gave her a death glare. "Yeah, you're right, a banana is better."

Lily stood up then and started angrily pacing the floor. "If he can get a girlfriend, then so can I!"

"You want a girlfriend?" Gigi asked.

"You know what I mean!" Lily cried out.

"Who has a girlfriend?" Kacie dared to ask.

"James! Potter!" Lily shook her head. "Whatever the hell his name is!"

"Whoa…_what?_" Kacie and Gigi exclaimed.

"Are you _sure _he has a girlfriend?" Gigi asked. "Maybe you overheard wrong or saw something and jumped to conclusions. I'm sure he doesn't have a girlfriend."

"Nancie called James her boyfriend," Lily said through gritted teeth.

"Oh," Gigi said. "Yeah, he has a girlfriend."

Lily glared at her and put her hands on her hips. "So if he can date someone else, then so can I!" Lily cried out and then paused. "Who can I date?"

"Well Jesse's free," Kacie snickered.

"And I'd say Kacie's ex boyfriend is free," Gigi said. "But I'm not sure she's ready to give up her poster."

"HEY!" Kacie cried out. "You're right, I'm _not _ready to give it up…and how dare you joke about it! Now, apologize to the poster." Gigi glared at her. "Later's good, too."

"Okay, can we be serious here for like five seconds?" Lily asked, obviously aggravated.

"No," Gigi insisted. "Because you_ can't_ be serious."

Lily crossed her arms angrily across her chest. "And why not?"

"You're not going to go get with a guy just to make James jealous," Gigi said. "That's something _I _would do…not you."

Lily plopped down on the couch and slouched down. "To make matters worse, his girlfriend is Nancie."

"That's impossible," Kacie claimed. "He never cared for her half as much as he cared for you."

Lily slumped down some more and sighed. "You know what the worst part is?"

"You mean there's worse than him being with Nancie, making out with Nancie, and possible shag-" Gigi started but was cut off when a magazine was thrown at her. "Seriously, what did the magazine ever do to you?"

Lily turned to Kacie. "You know a lot of the guys in this school, who can I date?" Lily handed her some parchment and a quill. "Now, just write the names of a few guys on here and-"

"Lily, I am not going to have any part in this nonsense," Kacie said.

"I'm on it," Gigi said, grabbing the parchment and a quill.

Lily grinned. "I'm glad I have at least one friend who doesn't have morals."

"Let's see. There's Gary, Dean, Hector, Musgrave-"

"Musgrave?" Lily and Kacie questioned.

"Maybe if you two end up together, he'll let you change his name," Gigi said.

"End up together?" Lily asked, raising her eyebrows. "Gigi, I'm looking for someone who will be nice to me and take me out and just have some fun. Where can I find a guy like that?"

"In a Disney movie," Gigi muttered. "Fine, I'll find someone who's nice but he'll probably be a loser and-"

"Screw it," Lily said. "Find me any kind of guy that I can walk all over and use."

Kacie and Gigi just stared at her.

"You think Peter's free?" Lily questioned.

"Okay this is scaring me," Gigi said. "You're starting to sound like-"

"Like Gigi," Kacie ended.

"That's not true!" Gigi cried out.

Lily and Kacie gave her a look.

Gigi let out a laugh. "That is totally true."

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"You're scum! You're a jerk! You're an asshole!" Sirius cried out.

James turned to him. "Are you done?"

"You're an idiot! An imbecile! A dolt!" Sirius cried out. "And you took the last piece of pie at dinner today!"

James gave him a look.

"That has nothing to do with this," Sirius said. "But I just wanted to point out that I'm still mad about that."

"So how am I a jerk? And scum? An-"

"I'm not finished!" Sirius cried out. He then paused. "Did I mention that you're an idiot?" James nodded. "Oh…then I'm finished."

"Okay, can you stop pacing and let me explain for a second?" James asked.

"No," Sirius said stubbornly and then stood stern and faced James. "You have a _girlfriend?_"

"How does word spread that fast?" James asked.

"Well Kellie ran into Hubert who talked to Lynda who-"

"That was a rhetorical question!" James cried out. "Look, Lily and I aren't getting back together and never will. It's over. I had to move on at some point."

"Blah blah," Sirius said. "This is just _wrong!_"

"This coming from the guy who cheated on his girlfriend," James said, rolling his eyes.

Sirius paused to think about that. "Okay, where's Remus? If anyone's right to reprimand you, it's him."

"Hey guys," Remus said, walking into the room.

James and Sirius exchanged glances.

"And where are my strippers?" Sirius called out, looking towards the door, hoping people coming at his command would work for a second time.

"Just because Remus came when we said we needed him doesn't mean the strippers will come too," James said, rolling his eyes.

Peter walked in just then. "Hey guys."

Sirius and James exchanged glances again. Sirius turned to Peter, "There better be a bunch of strippers behind you."

Peter gave them a strange look. "Why would there be strippers behind me?"

"Yeah, this _is _Peter we're talking about," James noted.

"Oh yeah, like strippers would follow _Sirius _back here?" Remus asked sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

Sirius gave him a look.

"…again," Remus finished.

Sirius turned his attention back to James. "Can I whack you with a pillow?"

"No."

"How 'bout a book?" Sirius asked.

"Sure, I don't want you to hit me with a pillow but I'd be glad to get hit by a book," James said, rolling his eyes. Sirius threw a book at him. "OW! I was kidding!" James cried out, rubbing the back of his head.

"Why are we throwing books at James?" asked Remus.

"Because it's what we do every Thursday night?" Sirius said.

Remus gave him a look.

"Because he has a new girlfriend…who _isn't _Lily," Sirius said, sitting down on his bed and catching the book James threw back at him.

"Oh yeah, I heard that from Kellie and Hubert," Peter said, sitting at his desk chair.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, how come _I _haven't heart about this?" Remus asked, turning to James. "Who's the lucky girl?"

"You mean _un_lucky girl," Sirius snickered.

"It's no one," James said with a shrug.

"It's Nancie," Peter said.

"_Nancie?_" Remus and Sirius cried out.

James turned to Sirius. "Who did you think it was?"

"I heard Schmancie, but Nancie makes _much _more sense," Sirius said.

"Seriously, exactly how many times did your mother drop you on your head when you were younger?" Remus questioned.

Sirius turned to Remus. "Can't you talk some sense into James?"

Remus looked up with a surprised look on his face. "Why me?"

"Do you seriously want _me _to give James relationship advice?" Sirius asked, picking up a magazine from the end of his bed.

Remus paused and then turned to James. "You still love-"

"If you end that sentence with Lily, I _will _throw something heavy and hard at you," James said.

"Cookies," Remus ended. "You still love _cookies_…wanna go get some?"

"You know I like how no matter what we're talking about, you can add something into the conversation as stupid as that," James said.

"Is that a no on the cookies?" Remus questioned.

"If X marks the spot, how come women have a _G_ spot?" Sirius asked, looking up from his magazine.

"I take back what I said," James said. "It's _Sirius _who adds stupid things into conversations."

Peter glanced over at Sirius. "What the hell are you reading?"

"Some magazine Giliba left here," Sirius said with a shrug. "I'm about to take the quiz…what type of guy is perfect for me."

"_No _type of guy," James muttered.

"Maybe I should return this magazine to Giliba before I turn gay," Sirius joked.

All three boys turned to look at Sirius. "Why was Gigi in here?" Remus asked suspiciously.

"She comes up here all the time," Sirius said with a shrug.

"I can't remember the last time she was up here," Remus said. "And that magazine is an April issue."

Sirius glanced over at him and then glanced down at the small print. "Your eyesight is freakishly strong."

Remus gave him a look.

"So what if it's an April issue?"

"It's the first week of _May_," Remus said.

Sirius glanced up at his calendar. "It's not November?"

"How do you stand up without falling down?" Peter questioned.

Sirius bounced off his bed. "Okay, let's get out of here."

"I have homework," Remus said.

"I have to go to the library," Peter explained.

"I have a date with Nancie," James claimed.

"Cancel all of that," Sirius said. "Let's do something wild and spontaneous!"

Remus took a piece of parchment and a quill out of his desk. "Like what?"

"The point of being spontaneous is to _not _plan it out," Sirius said.

"Padfoot, if we did something spontaneous with you in charge, we'd end up in Russia completely naked," Peter said.

"Or something to that effect," James said with a laugh.

Sirius glanced around at Remus opening his Potions book, Peter grabbing his bag and throwing a few pieces of parchment and a few books into it, and James admiring his hair in the mirror and sighed. "Today is the warmest day we've had this entire year," Sirius said, thinking it out. "I say we grab our brooms and go play Quidditch."

"That's it?" James asked. "Wow, you suck at this wild and spontaneous thing."

"_Strip _Quidditch," Sirius said with a grin.

"I'd rather just go strip with Nancie," James snickered.

"Oh c'mon," Sirius said. "It'll be fun and interesting. We haven't done anything interesting in a long time."

"In order to get me to do that, you'd have to get me really drunk," Remus said, crossing his arms across his body.

Sirius wondered over to his trunk and pulled out some firewhiskey. "That can be arranged."

Remus sighed, rolled his eyes, and then said, "Hand it over."

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"Why am I taking Advanced Ancient Ruins?" Gigi groaned, placing her head down on her desk.

"Because you're an idiot," Lily said, not looking up from her work.

Gigi picked her head up and glared at Lily. "That wasn't the response I was looking for."

"Well you wouldn't want me to lie, now would you?" Lily asked with a grin.

Kacie looked around the room. "Where are Roxie and Gisela?" Kacie asked, referring to their two other roommates.

"Either sucking up to some professor or shagging some guy," Gigi said with a shrug.

"You say that like you've never done it before," Lily said, rolling her eyes.

"I haven't!" Gigi cried out. "I would _never _suck up to a professor. That's just disgraceful."

"What about sucking a professor?" Kacie asked with an amused look on her face.

"Oh gross!" Gigi exclaimed and then paused. "Depends on how bad I'm doing in the class."

"Okay, this conversation is officially over," Lily said.

"Can't concentrate?" Gigi asked.

"It's really hard to concentrate when you're about to throw up," Lily said.

Gigi closed her books and turned to Lily. "So Lily-"

"You're done with your work already?" Lily asked.

"Yes."

Lily gave her a look.

"No."

Lily gave her a pathetic look.

"Can I borrow yours?" Gigi asked.

Lily rolled her eyes and pushed it over to her.

Gigi smiled but didn't look at it. "How's the whole finding a nice guy going for you?"

"Good," Lily said. "I have a date with Radley next weekend."

"Already?" Gigi asked. "Damn girl, that was fast."

Lily grinned. "I just flash my smile, wink, and flip my hair and every guy wants me."

Gigi and Kacie exchanged glances. "No really…how'd you do it?" Kacie asked.

"Seriously, all I have to do is smile pretty!" Lily exclaimed.

Gigi and Kacie gave her a look.

"I begged him," Lily said.

"You had to _beg _a guy to go on a date with you?" Gigi asked, bursting out laughing.

"Yeah," Lily said. "And when that didn't work, I paid him."

Kacie and Gigi burst out laughing.

"I'm just kidding!" Lily exclaimed, laughing along with them.

Kacie opened her mouth but stopped when she heard loud laughter from outside the window. "What's that?" she asked.

Lily walked over to the windowsill. "The noise is coming from the Marauders."

Gigi and Kacie just shrugged and went back to doing their work. "That's usually the case."

"They're playing Quidditch," Lily said, squinting to get a better look.

"So what?" Kacie said, not looking up and writing furiously on a piece of parchment.

"I think Sirius is naked!" Lily cried out.

"Move over!" Gigi and Kacie exclaimed, running to the windowsill.

Lily grinned. "Just kidding."

"Ugh, you suck," Gigi said, walking back to her desk.

"Although, both Remus and Sirius have very little on," Lily said.

Gigi grinned from ear to ear. "They're playing strip Quidditch."

Lily and Kacie looked at her with blank expressions on their faces. "Why would four guys want to play strip Quidditch?"

Kacie paused to think about it. "You know...I was never really convinced that they weren't all gay together. This just proves my suspicion even more."

Gigi went into her closet and grabbed her broom. "Wanna join them?"

"Hell no," Lily said.

"No way," Kacie said, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Fine, but when I get to see the boys naked while you're stuck up here doing homework, don't complain to me," Gigi said.

"I've already seen one of them naked," Lily said with a grin.

"And I don't want to see _any _of them naked," Kacie noted.

"And I want to see _all _of them naked," Gigi said, grinning wide.

"What happens if you lose and _you're _the one who's naked?" Lily asked.

Gigi paused. "Damn, I haven't thought this all the way through."

Kacie looked at her with a curious look on her face and went in her closet and took out her broom.

"You're gonna join her? You're gonna encourage this madness? This is ridiculous!" Lily cried out.

Gigi grabbed an extra broom from the closet. "So, you're not coming?"

"I haven't flown since our flying lesson in first year!" Lily exclaimed. "I'd clearly lose my clothes the fastest!"

"I don't think the guys would mind," Gigi snickered.

"I do _not _need any other reason for the Marauders to mock me," Lily said firmly.

"Oh c'mon, they don't mock you," Kacie offered.

Lily gave her a look.

"…much," Kacie said with a grin.

"So, is that a no on the strip Quidditch?" Gigi asked, growing impatient.

"And risk the possibility of humiliating myself in front of the Marauders?" Lily asked.

"What's the problem? _She _does it all the time," Kacie said, pointing at Gigi.

"If you don't come, I'm gonna get Radley to go out with me instead," Gigi said evilly.

"What makes you think he would drop me and go out with you?" Lily asked.

"Uh…because it's _me_," Gigi said obviously.

Lily hesitated and then grabbed the broom from Gigi. "Let's go."

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Gigi, Lily, and Kacie got outside and immediately started laughing at what they saw. James was flying in and out of hoops with all his clothes on, Peter had a few things off, but he was doing pretty well, Remus had his boxers, a sock, and his undershirt on, and Sirius only has his boxers on.

Gigi pulled Kacie and Lily back. "Shh, let's see how this goes," Gigi said, watching Peter take a shot on Sirius…and make it.

Sirius stopped in midair. "I hate this game."

All three boys laughed. "You're just not meant to be Keeper," James said with a laugh.

Sirius looked at his friends innocently. "Does that mean…" he trailed off.

"NO!" all three boys cried out. "You can keep the boxers on."

"Damn," all three girls muttered jokingly.

"I know it's a rare thought for you Padfoot…to keep clothes _on_," Remus said with a laugh.

James threw his head back and laughed but stopped when he saw three girls standing in the corner. James whirled around to look at them and then snickered. "Looks like we've got company."

"_What?_" Sirius cried out, whipping his head around.

The girls all waved innocently and smiled. The boys flew down to meet them. "What are you guys doing here?" James questioned.

"What does it look like?" Lily asked.

"It looks like you're watching the four of us get naked," James said.

"That's not true," Gigi said. "We're just watching _Black _get naked."

"Nothing you haven't seen sweet cheeks," Sirius said with a wink.

"Gag me," Gigi said, but secretly gave him a smile.

Lily held her broom out. "We want to play."

"But Lily, you _suck _at Quidditch," James noted.

"So?" Lily asked.

"You'll end up naked five minutes into the game," James said.

"Let's get this game started!" Sirius exclaimed. James glared at him. "Or we can go inside and play Exploding Snaps."

"How come I have a feeling that it won't be as wholesome as it should be," Gigi muttered.

"_Strip _Exploding Snaps," Sirius corrected with an evil grin.

"That's why," Remus responded to Gigi.

"We are not playing strip _anything _Sirius," James insisted.

"Why not?" Sirius pouted. "We have the girls here now…it'll be more fun."

James just gave him a tired glare.

"Fine, I'll just do what I always do when I want to see girls naked," Sirius said with a shrug.

"Get really drunk and hire some strippers?" Gigi joked.

"I wouldn't do that!" Sirius exclaimed.

All six friends stared at him.

"…for a third time," Sirius concluded.

"Come on James," Lily said. "You're not the boss of us. If we want to play then we will."

"Fine, but then I'm not playing," James said stubbornly.

"You're gonna miss out on a chance to see these three girls naked?" Sirius asked, obviously astonished.

James rolled his eyes and trudged off. Lily gave a rueful look to her friends and ran after James.

"Hey," Lily called out. James slowed down and turned to look at her. "What's your problem?"

"Excuse me?" James asked calmly.

"You were having fun playing strip Quidditch until the three of us came along," Lily said. "Which worries me a little…why you'd want to play strip Quidditch with the boys and not us girls is a little scary."

"When did you get so outgoing?" James demanded.

"What?"

"Suddenly this year you go so outspoken, you party and drink with the girls, and now you're willing to play a game that involves stripping," James said. "This isn't you."

"No," Lily said. "This isn't the _old _me. The one who dated you."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," James said.

"It wasn't a bad thing," Lily insisted. "But things have changed and things are different now."

"Lily, you are the worst Quidditch player ever. You can hardly fly," James said. "And you're gonna go out there and play a strip game of Quidditch? You do realize that you'll end up naked in two minutes."

"You're just mad because maybe for once, _you _won't be the only one who's seen me naked," Lily exclaimed.

"What? That's _crazy_," James said.

"I don't understand why you're getting so upset over a little _game_," Lily said. "Why do you even care what I do? We're not together anymore. Hell, we're not even friends!"

"We _could _be!" James exclaimed.

"No we can't!" Lily cried out.

"Why not?"

"Friends?" Lily spat out. "James, we were _never _friends. We went straight from hating each other to sleeping together. And now there's too much history. Don't you get it? This is too hard for me."

"If you don't want to be friends, then why'd you come out here to hang out with us? Where _I _happen to be?" James asked.

"There are five other people out here," Lily said. "I can easily ignore you."

"Oh, so that's it? You're going to go through these last two months ignoring me?" James asked.

"You're getting good at it," Lily muttered.

"Huh?"

"When's the last time you talked to me?" Lily asked. "You say you want to be friends but you don't even say hi in the hallways. You don't acknowledge my presence and you don't even glance my way."

"You thought I _cheated _on you Lily!" James yelled. "Damnit Lily, you don't become friends with the girl you loved who couldn't even _trust _you!"

"You just said you wanted to be friends!"

"I lied!"

Lily grew quiet and then looked up at him. "So this is how it's gonna be from now on?"

James looked up at her but didn't say anything. He then glanced down at his feet, shrugged a little, and turned to walk back into Hogwarts.

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_review! review! review! _

_will james's friends get used to him dating nancie? what will happen with lily and this radley character? will james and lily ever get back together...will they even ever become friends again? sirius and gigi are doing a pretty good job of hiding their relationship from their friends...will that last long?_

_review! review! review!_


	32. Snowfamily, Guy Radar, Oh Pish Posh

**_Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 32_**

_wow i have SOOO much work to do this weekend...so naturally, i'm not doing it. haha hope you enjoy the chapter!_

_**D**uh, I'm not JK Rowling  
**I **wish I was  
**S**omeday, maybe I'll be famous just like her  
**C**haracters you recognize don't belong to me  
__**L**ooks like I have a lot of time on my hand...unlike J.K. Rowling (with her 3 kids)  
**A**nd the plot belongs to me too  
**I **created all the characters you don't recognize from the Harry Potter books  
**M**aybe it would just be faster to read the 31 disclaimers before this  
**E**veryone still reading this should get on with the story  
**R**ecap: I'm not the awesome amazing J.K. Rowling_

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"But it's too hard," Sirius complained, throwing his quill down.

Gigi rolled her eyes and smiled. "All you have to do is read the chapter and write a short paper on it."

"But that requires me to _read_," Sirius whined. "And I don't wanna."

"It also requires you to write," Gigi said.

"You're not helping."

"For every paragraph you read, I'll take off a piece of clothing…" Gigi said in a low seductive whisper.

Sirius grinned. "I love homework."

Gigi laughed and went back to writing her paper.

"I bet the rest of the library will enjoy it as well," Sirius said.

"I didn't mean I'd take my clothes off _here_," Gigi said, rolling her eyes.

Sirius pouted. "I hate homework."

"So what'd you tell the guys you were doing today?" Gigi asked.

"Told them I was doing homework in the library," Sirius said with a shrug.

Gigi gave him a look. "I'm guessing they didn't believe you."

Sirius paused and then shrugged. "Well yeah, when that didn't work I told them I was snogging some girl in a closet."

Gigi laughed. "That sounds more like you."

"And you know how I _hate _being a liar," Sirius said. "So I think we should go snog in a closet."

"And I think we should finish our homework," Gigi said.

"Hm, _also _a good suggestion," Sirius said. "But-"

Gigi put her hand on his mouth. "Do your homework."

"Yes mom."

Gigi rolled her eyes and gave him a kiss on the lips.

"You're too much of a distraction," Sirius said. "If you didn't wear something so hot and look so damn good, I'd be able to get homework done."

"I'm wearing robes," Gigi pointed out.

"_Hot _robes," Sirius corrected.

Gigi just laughed and they went back to writing and reading.

"I have a question," Sirius said, putting his quill down and gazing over at Gigi.

Gigi put her book down. "I don't know why the sky is blue, I have no idea why grass is green, and frankly, I don't care."

"That wasn't my question," Sirius said. "But I'm still waiting on answers for those."

"Ask the guys," Gigi said.

"They don't even let me ask questions anymore," Sirius said.

"Smart boys," Gigi said.

"My question was about us," Sirius said. "You actually."

Gigi looked up, obviously interested.

"Do you feel like we missed out on anything with us hating each other for a year and a half?" Sirius asked.

"Yes," Gigi answered immediately.

"Wow, that was a fast answer," Sirius pointed out, relieved that she didn't take time to think about it.

She gave him a slight smile and looked up at him. "Remember when we were in second year, or maybe it was third year, and we decided to build a snowman and the others didn't want to join us."

Sirius smiled in thought of the memory. "And in addition to the snowman, we made snowchildren, a snowwife, and two snowdogs," Sirius said, with a smile. "I get what you're saying." Sirius paused. "Wait, no I don't."

"After we made all those snowmen, we decided to try and ice skate on the lake," Gigi said.

"And you almost fell through because the water wasn't totally frozen," Sirius said with a laugh. "But what does that have to do with anything?"

"Making the snowfamily is something that I wouldn't do with the girls or with the other Marauders," Gigi said. "That's something only you and I would come up with. And in regards to the ice skating, without you my life hasn't been as exciting or dangerous."

"So what you're saying is that you like taking risks and you miss nearly dying by falling through ice?" Sirius asked. "Because you're going to have to wait quite a few months for the lake to freeze over again."

Gigi laughed. "I'm just saying that something was always missing without you around."

Sirius gave her a warm smile and leaned in to kiss her.

"_What _do you think you're doing?" James demanded to know, walking into the library.

"I swear, this isn't what it looks like!" Sirius cried out.

James, Remus, and Peter put their hands on the hips and gave him a stern look. "This is unbelievable. This is just _wrong_," they all exclaimed.

"Look guys-" Sirius exclaimed.

"You're doing _homework_," James stated. "I can't believe it!"

Remus hit James. "That's not what _I _was referring to."

"Uh oh," Gigi whispered under her breath.

"Okay, look, I know this looks bad but-" Sirius started explaining to Remus.

"You _lied _to us!" Remus cried out. "You said you would be in a closet with some girl!"

Sirius and Gigi just stared at the guys, not sure of what to say, afraid that the boys might catch on to the fact that the two of them are together by themselves.

"What are you guys _talking_ about?" Peter exclaimed, giving James and Remus incredulous looks. "I was referring to the fact that Gigi and Sirius are hanging out together."

Sirius turned to Gigi. "You think you know someone…and then they turn out to be the smartest of the group."

"What _are_ you guys doingtogether?" Remus asked.

"He's paying me to help him with Defense Against the Dark Arts, only reason I'm here," Gigi said.

"You mean to say that he's doing so bad in DADA that he turned to the person he hates most in the world for help?" Remus asked, obviously skeptical.

"What are the chances that you believe that?" Sirius asked.

"Whoa, what's Sirius doing in a library?" Lily asked, walking up from behind them.

"Even more questionable, what's he doing with a quill and a book open?" Kacie wondered.

"No, the question is what is he doing here with Gigi," Peter said.

"Oooh, yeah. That's a better question," Kacie confirmed, waving her finger at Peter but looking at Gigi and Sirius. "Ignore mine."

"Well the answer is obvious," Lily said.

She received blank stares from everyone.

"Clearly they are both delirious," Lily said with a shrug.

"What are the chances you believe _that_?" Sirius asked, pointing to Lily.

Everyone just gave him a look.

Sirius sighed. "Okay, so here's the truth," Sirius said and then took a deep breath. "Gigi was abducted by aliens."

"Yep, that's exactly what happened," Gigi said.

"We're not stupid," Remus said.

"Really?" Sirius asked. "Because you guys are really good at acting like it."

His friends glared at him.

"Not the time to joke?" Sirius suggested.

Their glares intensified.

"If I can't joke, you're gonna have to help me out," Sirius said. "Because that's pretty much all I can do."

"Hey Black," Gigi said. "Shut up."

"Good idea."

"Seriously, what's going on?" James demanded to know.

Sirius sighed. "Remember back in first year when we played our first prank on the Slytherins and they barked for a week straight and we got a huge lecture from McGonagall about how pranks are bad and Snape and Crabbe were just young boys, etc?"

"Yes…" the three boys said slowly.

"This has absolutely nothing to do with that," Sirius confirmed.

"Okay, Sirius isn't allowed to talk anymore," Lily said and then turned to Gigi. "What's going on?"

"The Defense Against the Dark Arts professor came up to me and because Black over here is a complete moron, she asked me to do her a favor and tutor Black," Gigi said with a shrug. "And it's not a complete waste of my time, because he's paying me."

"Don't take this the wrong way," Remus said. "But why the hell did the professor ask _you?_"

"How am I not supposed to take that the wrong way?" Gigi asked. She shrugged. "Apparently she thinks I have a knack for Defense Against he Dark Arts. And James and Lily are the top students but she figured they were already busy with Head Boy and Girl stuff."

"And ignoring each other," Peter noted. "Planning out ways to avoid each other takes up a lot of time."

"Hello?" Lily said. "We're standing right here."

Peter looked up at her. "Hi."

Lily rolled her eyes and turned to Gigi. "How come _you _can get Sirius into a library and to open a book, but the rest of us have to practically hypnotize him to even pick up a quill."

"Ever hear of strip studying?" Sirius asked with a grin.

"Shut up," Gigi said sternly at him.

"Will do."

"Because I'm not the kind of girl to take his crap," Gigi said. "He either does it or I slap him."

"_After _she takes part in strip studying," Sirius said.

Gigi gave him the evil eye.

"This is the part where you slap me, isn't it?" Sirius cowered.

Gigi glared at Sirius, pretending to be mad and then turned to the rest of her friends. "Do you want me to hit him?" Gigi asked. "Will that show you all that I still hate him and that I'm doing this just for the money?"

"No that's not necessary," Lily said as James called out, "Hell yeah!"

"I thought you were my friend," Sirius said to James.

"I am," James said and then grinned. "And as your friend, I want to see you get slapped."

"Personally, I don't think any of this is your business," Gigi said to her friends, gathering her stuff. "And I don't know why you think this stupid meeting is anything more than what it is. You guys have known us for awhile and know we hate each other, so leave it alone."

"I just have one last question," James said.

Gigi sighed, trying to act aggravated. "Yes?"

"When are you going to slap him?"

"Seriously, we're not friends anymore," Sirius said.

"Shhh, I'm waiting for an answer," James said.

Sirius got up and slapped James over the head.

"Ow!" James called out, rubbing the back of his head. "The point was to see _you _get slapped."

Remus glanced over at James and then slapped Sirius on the arm.

"Ow!" Sirius shouted.

"Happy?" Remus asked, turning to James.

"Hmm," James said slowly. "Could you slap him in the face—AGH!" James started running as Sirius raised his hand to James's face.

Sirius glanced at his friends. "I'll be right back," Sirius said with a sweet smile and then quickly darted away. "Get back here!"

"Guys! This is a library!" Lily cried out. "People are trying to study! You're supposed to be quiet!" Lily sighed. "Oh, who am I kidding? They're long gone."

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"Hey Lily?" Sirius asked, poking his head into her room. "Do you have—oh my fucking god. It looks like a tornado hit!"

Lily glanced around at her room where every piece of clothing was either on the floor, on her bed, or hanging out of her dresser.

"Coming through! Get out of the way!" Gigi cried out, practically rushing into the room out of breath. "Reinforcements are here. What so you need?"

"I have nothing to wear," Lily pouted.

"The thousands of clothes around your room contradict that statement," Sirius said.

Kacie and Gigi just stared at Lily. "You said there was an emergency."

"I have nothing to wear!" Lily exclaimed.

"I almost passed out running here," Gigi said.

"Nothing to wear!" Lily said.

"Kacie ran into a first year and knocked him over," Gigi said.

"Nothing!"

"You know," Sirius said slowly. "Wearing nothing isn't a bad idea…"

All three girls glared at him.

"So…nothing to wear huh?" Sirius cowered.

Kacie and Gigi looked up at Sirius. "Are you here to help?"

"Help you two dress Lily?" Sirius asked with a grin. "Kinky."

"Get out," Gigi demanded.

Sirius shrugged and started heading out but then he stopped and turned around. "What exactly do you have nothing to wear for?"

"A date," Lily answered, digging through the clothes on her bed.

Sirius froze. "Oh…you have a date? With who?"

"Radley Bruin."

"Oh…where you going?"

"Dinner," Lily said, distractedly looking around the room.

"What time you going?"

"What's with the questioning Si?" Lily asked. "Why do you even care who I go out with?"

Sirius shrugged. "I'm just wondering." Sirius took a look at the clothes in the corner of the room. "I'd go with a baggy sweatshirt and baggy sweatpants."

Lily gave him a look. "It's hot outside."

"Oookay," Sirius said slowly. "Baggy t-shirt and baggy sweatpants."

"And this is why you weren't asked to help Lily change," Gigi said, pushing Sirius out the door and shutting it.

"Take pictures!" Sirius called out through the door.

"Of what?" Remus asked, walking into the room eating a carrot.

"Don't you ever knock?" Sirius asked.

"You mean, do I knock when I walk into a room that doesn't belong to you?" Remus asked. "No I don't…how rude of me."

"Did you know that Lily's going on a date?" Sirius hissed, walking over to Remus.

"So?"

"A date!"

"I heard you the first time," Remus said.

"Do you know what this means?"

"That she's going to go out for dinner with some guy?" Remus asked.

"No! It means-" Sirius stopped. "Wait, _that's _what you consider a date?"

"Well it's better than what you consider a date," Remus said. "Alcohol, condoms, and lots of snogging."

"You forgot to say strawberries and whipped cream," Sirius said with a wink.

"Is it really a lot to ask that you keep me uninformed about your sex life?" Remus asked.

"If I didn't talk about my sex life, I wouldn't have anything to talk about," Sirius said.

"Can we get back to the problem at hand?" Remus asked.

"Sure," Sirius said. "Strawberries and whipped cream really aren't that hard to find. Just head down to the kitchens an-"

"Not _that _problem," Remus said. "How you think Lily going on a date is a big deal."

"It _is _a big deal!" Sirius exclaimed. "James will be crushed! He'll be devastated! He'll be so upset!"

"He moved on first," Remus pointed out.

Sirius paused. "Oh yeah."

"He's over Lily," Remus said.

"Oh pish posh," Sirius said.

Remus stared at him. "Did you just say pish posh?"

"I'm not sure where that came from…" Sirius noted slowly.

"So where is James tonight?"

"With Nancie," Sirius said with a shrug.

Remus turned to look at James's room with the door closed.

Sirius laughed. "No, they actually went out."

"_Out _out? Like he's paying for stuff out? Like they're not staying in and having sex out?" Remus asked.

Sirius shrugged. "Well to be fair, they could go out and still have sex."

Gigi poked her head out of Lily's room. "Hey, if you guys were going on a date with a girl, do you think wearing a halter top or wearing a lacy v-neck shirt is sexier?"

"I usually wear pants and a t-shirt," Remus said.

"For the _girl_," Gigi said, rolling her eyes.

Sirius and Remus exchanged looks. "Do we look like the kind of people who have any clue what a halter or a v-neck is?" Remus asked.

"If she wants to look sexy, tell her to wear nothing," Sirius said.

"What did they say?" Lily asked Gigi.

Gigi put her head back into the room. "They say to go with the v-neck."

"Why are you obsessing over what to wear?" Kacie asked, holding a blue shirt up to her and looking at herself in the mirror.

"Because I'm going on a date!" Lily cried out, obviously panicking.

"With a guy you don't like," Kacie noted, picking up a purple top.

"He's really nice and easy to talk to," Lily said, taking off the halter.

"And he's hot," Gigi noted. Lily gave her a look. "Hey, that's a big plus if you ask me."

"We didn't ask you," Lily said. "I mean, this is just something casual. Maybe it can turn into more."

"But I thought you wanted James back," Kacie said.

"I did," Lily said and then shrugged. "But then I thought about it and why would I want to try and get back together with a guy who has clearly moved on and doesn't want anything to do with me?"

"That's not necessarily what he thinks…" Gigi said.

"Oh, so when he told me that he doesn't want anything to do with me, he was lying?" Lily asked.

"What are the chances that you aren't being sarcastic?" Gigi asked.

Lily rolled her eyes. "This night isn't about James. It's about Radley and the fact that I have no-"

"Nothing to wear," Gigi said. "We know, we know. We heard you the first hundred times."

Kacie held up a few shirts. "Can I borrow these?"

Lily glared at her.

"I'll ask again later," Kacie said with a sheepish grin.

Sirius glanced up at Lily's door and then turned to Remus. "What do you think girls talk about when they hang out?"

Remus turned his body so he was facing Sirius. "I dunno. Make up? Hair? Cute bunnies?"

Sirius stared at him. "Wow, you don't know anything about girls."

"Hey if you asked, obviously you don't know either," Remus pointed out.

"Good point," Sirius noted and then shrugged. It grew silent for a second until Sirius mustered up the courage to ask Remus what he really wanted to know. "Do you think they talk about boys a lot? Like their boyfriends?"

"If they talk about boys half as much as we talk about girls, it's a lot," Remus said.

"But what do they say?" Sirius asked. "Because I'm guessing that talking about sex and getting laid is something only guys do."

"I'm pretty sure they don't make lists of every girl they snogged either," Remus said with a snort.

"We only did that once!" Sirius exclaimed. "And we did that only because you told us we couldn't use the parchment to throw at first years."

"And you did it anyway," Remus said.

"_After _we made the snog list," Sirius said with a grin.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Gigi announced.

"Uh Giliba?" Sirius said. "There are only gentlemen here."

"If you're calling yourself a gentleman, why are you playing with a fluffy pink pillow?" Gigi asked.

Sirius looked down at the pillow he grabbed earlier and gave Gigi a sheepish grin. "So…you were saying?"

"I am presenting the gorgeous Lily Evans!" Gigi exclaimed, opening the door for Lily to walk out.

Remus and Sirius dropped their jaw the moment she showed her face. She was standing there in a short jean skirt and a low cut black lace v-neck and on her feet were black sandals with thin straps. Her hair was straight and flowing down her back and Gigi did her make up so it brought out her eyes.

Sirius and Remus exchanged glances. "You can't wear that," they said simultaneously.

"Why not?" Lily asked.

"You never looked like this before!" Sirius cried out. "Not even the several months where you were dating James!"

"So?" Lily asked, obviously not caring about James.

"Lily, my guy radar is telling me right now that I want to do you," Sirius said. Gigi tried to not look annoyed at that comment. "And when my guy radar is telling me that about _you_, it's a sign that you need to change."

"Well sorry if I don't feel like taking your baggy sweatshirt advice," Lily said.

Remus turned to Sirius. "You told her to wear a baggy sweatshirt?"

Sirius shrugged. "Yes?"

"When a girl has a body like that, she has to flaunt it!" Remus cried out.

"I'm not sure if I should be insulted or say thank you," Lily said.

"Guys, it's just an outfit," Gigi said, rolling her eyes. "Get over it."

Remus and Sirius exchanged glances. "Oh pish posh," they both responded.

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"And so that's how I met Sirius Black," Radley said with a laugh.

"You saw him skinnydipping in the lake? And you didn't go blind?" Lily asked, joining in with a laugh of her own.

Radley smiled. "Apparently he lost a bet."

"Well I'd hope he wouldn't do something like that willingly," Lily said and then paused. "But I wouldn't put it past him."

They arrived at the restaurant and were soon seated. Radley held out Lily's chair as she sat down and gave her a pat on her hand. Lily smiled up at him as he sat down across from her.

"I don't mean to be too forward, but I thought you were dating James Potter," Radley said.

Lily's smile soon faded and she just shrugged. "We're not dating anymore. It's been awhile."

"Well let me tell you, many guys were very jealous of James," Radley said. "He definitely took one of the best girls away from the rest of the world."

Lily flashed him a giant smile. "Well then I guess it's a good thing we broke up."

Radley reached over and placed his hand on top of hers. "I agree."

Lily leaned back in her chair and took a sip of water. "So what about you? I thought you were dating Ashleigh Myers."

Radley snorted. "Definitely not."

"That bad huh?" Lily joked.

Radley shrugged. "We were dating…now we're not."

"Something she did I assume," Lily decided.

"She didn't trust me," Radley said, shrugging again. "And eventually it got tiring listening to her complain to me about how I'm a liar and how I shouldn't be hanging out with any girls but her. Stupid stuff like that."

Lily grew pale, trying hard not to think about the James situation. "So…her not trusting you was that bad?"

"She accused me of cheating and lying and I just can't be with someone who can't trust me to walk down the hallway and not make out with a random girl," Radley said. Radley shook his head, deciding that he didn't want to talk about his ex girlfriend anymore. "But that's in the past. You're nothing like that."

Lily gulped and let her grab her hand again. "Yeah…not at all."

"Hey, isn't that James?" Radley asked, pointing to the entrance of the restaurant.

Lily violently jerked her head in that direction. "What is _he _doing here?" she hissed.

"Doing what everyone else is doing and eating dinner is a safe bet," Radley noted.

Lily could feel herself get nauseous as she noticed Nancie step beside James and place her arm around his waist. Lily turned around and faced Radley. "I'm just surprised to see him out on a date."

"Did he not take you out that often?" Radley asked, ordering some drinks for him and Lily.

"Does taking a walk around the lake count? Or how about a snogging session in the astronomy tower? Or saying he'll take you out, but then meeting up in the common room with the rest of your friends? Does that count?" Lily asked hastily. Lily sighed and bowed her head when she realized that she was ranting about her ex boyfriend to her date. "Sorry," she mumbled.

"Still a little bitter?" Radley asked.

"What gave you that idea?" Lily joked with an attempt of a smile.

"Whoa, look what we have here," James said, as he and Nancie passed by Lily and Radley's table.

Lily just gave a slight smile and noticed James tightening his grip around Nancie's waist. She rolled her eyes, "Hi."

James turned to Radley. "You're Bradley right?"

"Radley," he said.

"Of course," James said. "Lily has been obsessing about this date for so long now. It's so cute in fact."

"James," Lily warned.

"What to wear, how to act, what to say. I think she even made notecards with suitable topics," James said.

"_James_," Lily hissed.

James glanced at Lily. "Well I guess she got the outfit part down. What about the conversation? Were making the notecards worth it?"

Lily stood up angrily and took James arm. "We'll be right back," Lily said to Radley through gritted teeth.

Radley turned to Nancie who was now standing there awkwardly. "I'm Radley."

"I don't care," Nancie said, walking towards her table.

"Fair enough," Radley mumbled.

Lily pulled James out of the restaurant. "What the hell is your problem?" Lily asked, practically throwing him out of the restaurant and then placing her hands on her hips, staring up at him with devil eyes.

"What the hell are you doing?" James demanded to know.

"Eating?" Lily suggested. "You should recognize it. You do it ten times a day."

"But what's with the guy?" James asked.

"Sometimes while eating, I like company," Lily shot back, crossing her arms bitterly.

"So now you're…uh…dating other people?" James asked cautiously.

"What, I'm just supposed to wait around while you're off dating Nancie?" Lily cried out in aggravation, clenching her fists.

James looked up at her, a guilty look on his face. "You knew about that?"

Lily nodded. "Of course I knew. You and Nancie don't exactly have the quietest voices."

James stared blankly at her. "What the hell does that mean?"

Lily sighed. "I heard you two talking in the kitchens one night."

"Oh."

"It was nice hearing it from you, though. Thanks," she replied sarcastically.

"Oh yeah and you would have been totally supportive if I had knocked on your door one day and said 'Hey, how's it going, by the way I'm dating Nancie, how's your love life going?'" James snorted.

"I could have been supportive!" Lily cried.

James burst into laughter. "That is the biggest bunch of bullshit I've heard come out of your mouth! And that's saying a lot!"

"Hey, at least _I _didn't embarrass you in front of Nancie!" Lily shouted.

"Oh please, Bradley doesn't care about that," James argued. "All he's hoping for is to get you into bed tonight."

Lily let out an irritated grunt. "_Radley_!"

"Who's Radley?" James questioned. "Another notch on your bedpost?"

"Oh my _God_!" Lily asked, glaring at him. "You are _so _arrogant! I don't know what the hell you were doing back there embarrassing me but you are _so_ out of line. You had no right to do that! You're the one who said we can't be friends. You're the one who can't seem to be around me and then you go and make a fool out of me in front of my date! What is your _problem_?"

"Hi, I'm sorry to bother you, but some of the customers are asking that you keep it down, so is it at all possible that you could lower your voices?" a waitress said softly, biting her lip.

"No!" James and Lily cried out, mostly angry with each other, not the waitress.

"Thanks, that's all we ask," the waitress cowered and then practically ran back into the restaurant. Lily and James walked a little farther away from the restaurant, standing in an awkward silence before Lily spoke up.

"You and I are no longer dating and apparently, no longer friends," Lily pointed out. "So how can you seriously stand here and reprimand me about dating someone else when you've been dating Nancie for two weeks now?"

"That's different," James quickly argued.

"Oh really, and how?" Lily questioned in frustration.

"You weren't supposed to find out about it."

Lily rolled her eyes and clenched her fists angrily. "You know what, James? If _you_ can date someone else, then so can I."

James assessed her last statement and stared at her incredulously. "Wait…so you're only going out with Bradley-"

"_Radley_."

James rolled his eyes. "So you're only going out with what's-his-name because you found out about me and Nancie?"

"Don't put words in my mouth," Lily said immediately and bitterly. "You and I broke up. Granted, it wasn't _that _long ago, but you can date whoever you want. And so can I. It's what happens when you break up…you move on and you date other people."

"I don't _want _to date other people!" James cried out.

Lily stared at him speechless. "Uh…wh-what?"

James stopped and stared at her amazed by what he had just blurted out, trying to understand it. _He _told Lily they couldn't date anymore. _He _was the one who was hurt when she didn't trust him. So _he _moved on…right?

James gulped and cocked his head to the side. "I…I don't know."

"What about Nancie?" Lily asked cautiously.

"I don't know."

"So…do you mean _you _don't want to date other people? Or you don't want _me _to date other people?" Lily asked, trying to clarify.

"I don't know."

"What _do _you know?" Lily demanded to know.

"Yellow and blue make green," James answered immediately, immediately regretting trying to make light of a conversation that was anything but.

"You are _impossible_!" Lily exclaimed. "I don't know why I'm bothering to try to understand anything you say because in the end, you never mean it. I'm going back to my date and I suggest you do the same."

"Lily, wait-" James said.

"No," Lily said, whirling around. "I've waited around for you…..for _two_ months. And clearly you moved on. I think its time you finally let me move on too."

"You don't mean that," James said lamely.

Even though Lily knew he was right, she refused to let him know it and she walked away from him and into the restaurant, leaving a very confused and helpless James standing in the middle of Hogsmeade.

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_will the group EVER find out about Gigi and Sirius? Will Lily ever admit/realize that she's meant to be with james? Will James break up with Nancie and try to get back with Lily? Will I finish all the work I have this weekend (oops...how'd that question get there?)_

_Review to find out! (about everything except my work...i'm sure you don't really care) _:o)


	33. Jimbo's, Two Glasses of Milk, Green UFO

**_Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 33_**

_I know it's been so long but I have been so busy lately...burying myself in the tons of work that I have (gotta love college...). _

_Disclaimer: blah blah etc etc yada yada ...you get the gist_

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Gigi snuggled closer to Sirius as they lay down on their backs, looking up at the stars from the Astronomy Tower. Gigi gave a quick glance in Sirius's direction and couldn't help but smile at the serene smile on Sirius's face. She couldn't imagine a time in her life when she was happier than she was now. She grinned as Sirius tightened the arm he had wrapped around Gigi and gave her a light kiss on the top of her head.

Gigi turned over on her stomach and started fiddling with Sirius's hair. "Do you remember the first time we met?"

Sirius shifted his weight so he was lying on his side, with his weight leaning on his elbow as he rested his head in his hand. "Of course." He took Gigi's hand and placed it in his own. "I can remember the first time I laid eyes on you."

"Go on," Gigi said slowly as Sirius tucked some hair behind her ear.

"Your bag had split open and so all your books fell onto the floor," Sirius said. "You were muttering something to yourself furiously, probably how late you were gonna be or-"

"How I'm never again buying a bag from a place called Jimbo's," Gigi said with a laugh.

Sirius laughed along with her. "Well, the guys and I were in the middle of planning a prank and I just zoned out, thinking that I had just laid eyes on the most beautiful girl at Hogwarts."

Gigi's cheeks turned pink from embarrassment and she had to turn away, unable to believe how sweet her boyfriend was.

"And thirty seconds later," Sirius continued. "You got run over by Snape."

"No," Gigi said. "I'm pretty sure I got run over by a monkey."

"Yeah…" Sirius said slowly. "That was Snape."

Gigi burst out laughing. "So all in all, the prank was successful."

"And so was my ploy to get the most gorgeous girl at Hogwarts to go out with me," Sirius said.

"Seven years later," Gigi pointed out.

"I could have waited seven decades," Sirius said softly, brushing his lips against Gigi's.

Gigi smiled up at Sirius. "And then two days later, we officially met when you sat next to me in Potions."

"And then you caused our potion to turn purple instead of what it was supposed to do," Sirius added.

Gigi shrugged. "I was too distracted by the hot guy standing beside me."

"You thought I was hot?" Sirius asked with a grin.

"I was referring to James," Gigi joked.

Sirius started tickling her. "I am _so _much hotter than James!"

"Eek! Stop!" Gigi cried out between giggles. She struggled to get free but he had a tight grip on her. "Sirius!" Gigi couldn't shout much more because she was laughing so hard as Sirius tickled around her stomach. "I hate you!" she burst out.

Sirius stopped tickling her and tackled her to the ground. "That's not what you said last night," Sirius whispered as he brought his lips to meet hers.

Gigi wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. "C'mere," she murmured as she deepened the kiss and rolled over so she was on top of him. She shivered a bit from excitement as Sirius's hands found his way into her tangled hair.

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"Hey Gi," James said, walking into the Gryffindor common room a few days later. "Have you seen Sirius?"

"No," Gigi said quickly. "Why would you assume that I've seen him? Of course I haven't seen him. We hate each other. I haven't seen him!"

James gave her a strange look and glanced down at the brownie she was halfway through. "I think there's something weird in that brownie. Either that or you've gone crazy."

Gigi paused to think about it. "I'd go with the last option."

James laughed and went upstairs, skipping every other step. "Oh hey Si."

Sirius turned around from his desk chair and nodded in his direction. "What's up?"

James looked at the piece of brownie on a napkin on Sirius's desk. "Are you eating a brownie?"

"No," Sirius said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "I'm hoping that if I stare at it long enough, it will become two brownies."

"And how's that working out for you?"

"You only see one brownie, don't you?" Sirius joked.

James glanced at two glasses of milk sitting next to him. "And two glasses of milk?"

"So?" Sirius asked, yawning and obviously bored with the conversation.

"Let me spell it out for you," James said. "You have a brownie on your desk and two empty glasses of milk..."

Sirius gave him a blank stare.

"Okay…let me spell it out for you some more," James said. "Either you ate two brownies and two huge glasses of milk by yourself, or you were with a certain somebody."

Sirius gave him another blank stare.

"Okay, let me just tell you how it is," James said tiredly. "Gigi came back with half a brownie and now you have two empty glasses of milk and brownie all over you. So just admit that you were with her."

Remus walked in just then. "Who was he with?"

James turned to him. "I'll spell it out for you."

"Please don't," Sirius whined.

"Aha! So you admit that you were lying," James said.

"No," Sirius muttered. "You're just not very good at spelling it out."

James rolled his eyes. "Sirius spent all afternoon with Gigi."

"Hey, that's not true!" Sirius exclaimed. "You're just jumping to your own conclusions…which are wrong."

James paused and then turned to Remus. "Sirius was with Gigi all afternoon."

"How do you know this?" Remus asked, glancing over at Sirius who wasn't saying anything.

"Gigi had a brownie, Sirius has a brownie and two glasses of milk," James said.

"Wait, so let me get this straight. You were with Gigi all afternoon and you guys had brownies?" Sirius shrugged, not wanting to admit it. "And you didn't get me one?"

James gave him a look.

"Right, right. That's not the point," Remus said. "But are there any left in the kitchen?"

"Moony!" James exclaimed. "This is a serious conversation."

"You make it seem like Sirius murdered someone or that the world is coming to an end," Remus said, rolling his eyes.

"If Sirius and Gigi are friends or whatever, I think the world _has _come to an end," James said.

Remus paused and turned to Sirius, glancing down at the two empty classes of milk. "Oh my god. The world has ended!"

"Guys," Sirius said, rolling his eyes. "It's not that big of a deal."

"You ate _brownies _together," Remus said. "Brownies are like your favorite food! You only eat them with your favorite people!"

"And now I'm putting you on the 'not eating brownies with me' list," Sirius joked.

Remus laughed. "Okay, let's be serious here for a minute," Remus said and then pointed to the rest of his brownie. "Are you gonna finish that?"

"Remus!" James cried out. "Stop acting stupid!"

"Sorry, I know I'm acting stupid," Remus said. "There's no milk left. You can't eat a brownie without milk."

"Why do I bother?" James groaned.

"Hey S-" Gigi started, poking her head in to talk to Sirius. "-Sexy guys."

James grinned. "I'd find that weird if it wasn't so true."

"Do _you _have any brownie left?" Remus asked Gigi. "And milk?"

"Huh?" Gigi asked.

"Ignore him," James said. "By the way, we know about you and Sirius."

Gigi looked over at Sirius. "You _told _them?" she hissed.

Sirius smacked his head against the desk. "No."

Gigi bit her lip and gave him an innocent look. "Oops?"

"So there definitely _is _something going on," James said with a grin.

"What are the chances you believe that an alien took over my body?" Gigi asked.

"Oooh, don't forget to mention that UFO," Sirius said, leaning back in his chair.

Remus and James gave him a look.

"What?" Sirius asked. "It was green and lit up."

"So…who wants to go down to dinner?" Gigi asked, rushing out of the room.

"Me!" Sirius cried out, following her out of the room.

"Oh, this is _so _not over," Remus said, racing out of the room with James.

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"Whoa, what's with the parade of people?" Lily asked, as Gigi and Sirius practically ran into the Great Hall, closely followed by James and Remus who were out of breath.

"Do you see us with whistles?" James asked, catching his breath. "Or a baton and some tubas?"

"Uh…no?"

"Then it's not a parade," James snapped.

"Oh good, because I was utterly confused," Lily said, rolling her eyes and glaring in James's direction.

"We're just trying to figure out what's going on with Sirius and Gigi," Remus said.

"What do you mean?" Kacie asked, putting her fork down.

"We _told _you," Sirius insisted. "It was a UF-"

"There's no such thing as UFO's and aliens!" James cried out.

Sirius pouted and piled the food on his plate. "Just wait til you get abducted by aliens," Sirius said. "You'll be sorry."

James pointed his fork at Sirius to say something but by mistake flung some mashed potatoes at him.

Sirius gasped as the potatoes hit him in the face and shoulder. He narrowed his eyes. "Oh you are _so _dead."

"I didn't mean to!" James shrieked, jumping up from the table.

Remus watched Sirius chase James with a full cup of milk and turned to the group. "Bets on who's gonna win this fight?"

"James will definitely outrun Sirius," Kacie said.

"No, I think one way or another, that milk will end up all over James," Gigi said, sitting back and watching with amusement.

"I have a feeling they will both trip over something and both end up on the floor," Peter added.

They all turned to watch James run past the Slytherin table and Sirius chase after him. A few seconds later, Sirius tripped over his shoelace and went crashing to the floor, losing grip on the milk.

"AGH!" a voice cried out, jumping up from the Slytherin table. Everyone turned to see Snape covered in milk.

Remus smirked. "That's a much better outcome."

"Oh Snivelus!" Sirius cried out, getting up from the floor and taking a handful of mashed potatoes. "I think you forgot something." And with that said, he flung the food right at Snape.

Then he walked over to James and wiped his hands on James's robes with a smirk. "Don't think I forgot about you."

James looked down at his robes and groaned. "Yeah, because I was worried," he said, rolling his eyes. James slapped Sirius on the back and smiled. "So…what really is going on with you and Gigi?"

"BLACK!" a voice cried out from behind Sirius.

Sirius shrugged. "Nothing really," Sirius said.

James gave him a blank look. "Aren't you gonna turn around?"

Sirius shook his head and shrugged again. "It's just Snape. Totally harmless."

"BLACK! Turn around and fight like a man," he sneered.

Sirius snorted and still didn't turn around. "Why does everyone think there's this big thing going on between Giliba and I?" Sirius asked James.

"Discussing how you're a disgrace to your family?" Snape scorned. "Or how you are the one thing wrong with this entire world?"

James took out his wand and muttered a hex, turning Snape into a snail.

Sirius glanced behind him. "Thanks man."

James shrugged, acting as if nothing had just happened. "So seriously, what's going on?"

Sirius tried hard to shrug, but it turned into a huge grin.

James opened his mouth wide. "Oh my gosh! You're having sex!"

"Shhh!" Sirius cried out, putting his hand over James's mouth, "Say it louder, I don't think the _snail _heard you."

James bit his lip and shrugged confoundedly. "Sorry."

"And no, we're not having sex," Sirius whispered, glancing over at Gigi who was grabbing her water back from Lily who was two seconds away from dumping it on her. "We're just…together."

"Oh, _now _I understand," James said sarcastically, but he so amazed that Sirius and Gigi weren't just friends…they were more. "Because together isn't ambiguous at all."

Sirius shrugged. "C'mon. It's me and Giliba. _Me _and _Gigi_."

"Yes, I'm pretty sure I've met both of you and I'm almost positive I know your names," James said.

"We're just taking things slow. We are the king and queen of relationships suck, one night stands are awesome, who needs commitment," Sirius said.

"Wow, you were upgraded to king?" James joked.

Sirius grinned. "I get a throne and a crown."

James laughed and then he paused and shook his head in disbelief. "Oh my gosh! You two are…_together_."

"See?" Sirius said smugly. "It's not so easy to come up with a word for it."

"A relationship! You're dating! You're going out!" James hissed.

"Oh…maybe there are words for it," Sirius said. "But hey, don't tell everyone else okay?"

"Of course not," James said. "I wouldn't tell your secrets."

Sirius gave him a look.

"But what about writing? Can I write it in the gossip newspaper?" James asked.

"James," Sirius warned.

"Fine," James said. "What about sign language?"

Sirius hit him over the head.

"OW!" James cried out. "I'll take that as a no."

"Good idea."

James laughed. "But I don't get it. You and Gigi hate each other. I'm talking hexes and yelling and fighting."

"Speaking of hexes," Sirius said. "You're about to step on Snail Snape."

James looked down and burst out laughing.

"So I have a question," Remus said from across the way.

"Yes, summer _does _come after fall," Gigi joked.

"No it doesn't," Lily pointed out.

Gigi paused. "Oh yeah."

"That's not the question I was going to ask," Remus said. "But thanks for clearing that up. I was going to ask why Sirius and James are standing by the Slytherin table and why they haven't moved for the past five minutes."

Lily glanced over and then faced Remus. "You're a Marauder. What do you _think _they're doing whispering by the Slytherin table?"

Remus gazed over at them. "You really think that they're planning a pran-" Remus stopped. "Oh my god. They just turned Snape into a snail."

Peter, Lily, Gigi, and Kacie violently jerked their heads to look at the Slytherin table. "Oh my god!"

Kacie shrugged, stepping off of the bench after she got a good look. "To be fair, he deserved it."

"How do you know? You're not even over there," Peter noted.

"It's Snape. He _always _deserves it," Kacie said.

"I'd argue with that," Remus said, sticking a roll into his mouth. "But it's pretty much the truth."

Kacie turned to see Sirius and James walk over to their table with their arms around each other's necks. "Hmm…are you guys sure James and Sirius aren't gay together?"

Everyone turned to look at the two boys and just chuckled. "They _do _spend an awful lot of time together," Remus said slowly.

"Yeah but _you _spend a lot of time with them also," Lily noted.

"Whoa, a threesome?" Gigi asked. "That's hot."

Remus laughed and threw the rest of his roll at her but she ducked and it hit Sirius in the face.

"Hey! Didn't we just learn what happens when you hit me with food?" Sirius asked with a laugh.

"So, how's the sex?" Kacie teased, sticking a carrot in her mouth.

Sirius choked on the water he just took a sip of. "What?"

"You and James," Peter said.

Sirius and James exchanged glances and then made retching noises. "You guys are sick," James said. James turned to the others. "But if you want to know about the sex, you should ask Sirius and Gigi."

"James!" Sirius cried out. "What happened to the no telling my secrets thing?"

"I lasted six minutes," James said with a shrug. "That's five minutes longer than I expected."

"You _told _him?" Gigi hissed.

"You're having _sex?_" the other friends exclaimed. Sirius opened his mouth to say no but didn't have the time.

"You two are _together_?" Remus cried out.

"Are there any more rolls?" Peter asked.

Everyone turned to stare at him.

"It's a very important question!" Peter exclaimed.

"Oh, look at the time, we have class!" Gigi exclaimed, grabbing a few carrots and heading out.

"Oh shit, we're late!" Sirius cried out, running after her.

"It's seven o'clock at night!" Remus called out, grabbing the half eaten roll from his plate and rushing after them.

Lily, Kacie, and Peter exchanged looks and quickly got up and ran after everyone. James grabbed a few rolls before he ducked out behind everyone.

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Sirius caught up with Gigi very quickly, mainly because he was on the Quidditch team and could outrun almost anyone. "It kind of slipped out," Sirius said with a shrug. "I mean he _is _my best friend."

"I've been keeping this from my best friends for awhile now," Gigi said, glancing behind her shoulder and speeding up. "It's what we agreed on. Remember? No telling our friends or they'll make fun of us and ruin the good thing we have."

"I tried lying," Sirius said. "But James could see right through my lies because I was smiling so much."

Gigi stopped and turned to Sirius with a slight smile. "Couldn't stop smiling huh?"

Sirius wrapped his arms around her. "It's kind of hard to frown when you're the topic of conversation."

"You make it impossible to be mad at you," Gigi said.

"It's the charm," Sirius said with a grin.

"Nah, that's not it," Gigi said. "If you weren't hot, I'd drop you in a second."

Sirius laughed and kissed her on the lips.

"Ahem," a voice coughed from behind them.

"Busted," Gigi said with a smile, putting her hand in Sirius's. She turned to see their five friends standing there with their arms crossed, James with a roll stuffed in his mouth.

"Hey Lily," someone said from the connecting hallway. The whole group turned to see Radley standing there.

Lily grinned. "Hey there."

"Hi Bradley," James muttered, narrowing his eyebrows.

Lily hit him hard in the stomach and walked over to Radley. She called over her shoulder, "You guys go ahead, I'll catch up with you."

Everyone but James shrugged and headed towards the Common Room. James fell behind everyone and glanced over his shoulder as he walked away as slowly as he could.

"I had fun the other night," Radley commented.

Lily smiled. "So did I. We should do it again."

"What are you doing this week?" Radley asked.

"I have a very busy schedule of sitting around avoiding homework," Lily teased and then she shrugged. "I'm free Thursday night."

Radley kissed her on the cheek. "I'll see you then."

Lily smiled and watched him walk away. She turned the corner and nearly jumped out of her skin when she ran right into James. "What are you doing here?" Lily asked, obviously annoyed.

"I don't like him," James answered immediately.

"You don't know him," Lily said tiredly, walking quickly ahead.

"Well I don't like what I do know," James said.

Lily stopped abruptly and turned to James who nearly ran into her back. "If you don't like him then don't date him. Don't talk to him. Don't go near him. But I frankly don't give a damn who you like and who you don't like."

"Why are you being so hostile?" James asked calmly.

"Because you are such a hypocrite!" Lily cried out. "You say we'll never be friends and then you stand here in a hallway and try to have a nice conversation. You say we should just stay away from each other and then you interrupt my date by acting like an asshole. You say I can't date other people but here you are dating Nancie!"

"I don't want to date Nancie!" James exclaimed.

Lily stopped glaring and gritting her teeth, and looked up at him. "What?"

"I don't want to date Nancie," James repeated lamely. "And I know you don't want to date Bradley."

Lily groaned at him saying the wrong name but let it go. She put her hands on her hips. "What gives you that idea?"

"You said you were only going out with him because you found out about me and Nancie," James said.

"I never said that," Lily snapped.

"But it's true," James noted.

Lily looked at him but didn't say anything. Eventually she just gave a lame shrug and looked down at her shoes.

James took a step towards her. "Lily," he said calmly.

"No," Lily said with a quiver in her voice.

James had no idea what she was saying no to, but he took another step closer. "I know things have gotten so screwed up between us but I don't like us not being friends." James sighed and lifted her chin up so she was forced to look at him. "I don't like it when we're not together."

Lily tore herself away from his touch and his gaze. "You can't keep doing this."

James dropped his hands by his side and looked at her perplexedly. "Doing what?"

"First you decide you hate me," Lily explained. "And then you start being nice to me. But then you tell me we can't be friends. And then you get jealous over me and Radley and now you want to be friends or whatever again. I can't keep doing this James! I finally start to get over you and you come back into my life."

"You're over me?" James asked.

Lily looked at him and sincerely said, "I'm trying to be."

"Well stop trying," he urged.

She shook her head. "No," she replied with a sigh. "It's just not that easy, James."

"It can be," James pointed out with a hopeful look.

"_No_," she said forcefully. "No, it can't be. _Nothing _about this is easy."

"Lily, I can't stand seeing you with someone else," James explained.

"Oh yeah, and it was _so _easy for me when I found out you and Nancie were together," Lily snorted.

James ran his fingers through his hair nervously. Lily groaned at the sight of him doing this but she turned away so she wouldn't have to look at him. James turned to Lily and sighed. "What are we doing, Lily?"

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"You and me," he explained. "What's going on between us?"

Lily looked up at him, trying to ignore the fluttering in her heart. "Nothing," she lied. "_Nothing _is going on between us. You're with Nancie and…and I have a date with Bradley on Thursday."

"Radley."

"Whatever," she murmured.

"You can't even remember his name," James pointed out.

"Well you're distracting me," she muttered irritably.

"I know," he pointed out. "And I probably always will. So why can't you and I just-"

"James, don't you get it? There _is _no 'you and I.' We're _over_. We've moved on to other people and…" She sighed and shrugged. "I guess you and I just weren't meant to be." It pained her to admit it but saying it out loud made her realize it was true. Clearly, James and her were never going to work so why bother forcing it?

When James didn't reply, Lily turned around to walk away from him, wondering why she felt the need to cry.

"Lily, wait," James said, reaching out and grabbing her arm. "I don't _want _Nancie. I don't _want _to move on. I don't _want _you to go on a date with Radley on Thursday. Because I don't _want _usto be over."

Lily stood there for several seconds trying to comprehend everything that was going on. "But we _are_ over," Lily said softly.

"What?"

"We've been over for a month and a half now," Lily admitted.

"Well whose fault is that?" James cried out in frustration.

"What?" Lily asked.

"All you had to do was trust me," James said, kicking himself mentally for bringing it up.

"I can't believe I'm hearing this," Lily said. "I _wanted _to get back together when I realized that I made a terrible mistake but _you _didn't want to. _You _wanted me out of your life and now you're gonna stand here and argue about it again? Can't you ever make up your goddamn mind?"

"I have!" James cried out and then sighed, angry at himself for getting angry. James sighed and brought his voice level down. "I want you."

Lily stared up into his chocolate eyes and felt herself becoming more and more vulnerable to his words.

"Please, Lily," he pleaded, his eyes softening. "Give me another chance."

"I can't take it when you hate me," Lily said slowly.

"I don't hate you," James said, taken aback by that response.

"But you did," Lily said. "I hate the look on your face when you're upset with me. I can't take that again."

"I have never had to try so hard to convince a girl that I love her," James said. "This shouldn't be this hard."

"I can't go through this whole process again," Lily said, obviously getting frustrated. "Fall in love with you again, we break up, and then I take another bunch of months to get over you. If we get back together and it ends up badly, I won't be able to handle that again. It's just…easier this way. I'm already halfway over you. I can't start up again and then have it all fall to pieces…again."

"Since when was a relationship easy?" James asked, taking her hands. "I'm in love with you Lily. You hurt me too. The person I loved most in the world didn't trust me. But I'm willing to forgive you and I want to be 'us' again. Don't you want that too?"

Lily turned away from him, uncertainty flashing through her mind. She swallowed hard, wondering what she wanted to do. She closed her eyes and tried to think about the consequences with either decision. Did she want to get back together? Or did she want to go on that date with Radley? Was she tired of getting into the routine with James? Did she want to try out something new and be with Radley?

James let go of her and sighed when he realized she wasn't going to answer him anytime soon. "What's there to think about, Lily?" he asked with a hint of anger in his tone.

"Everything," she muttered.

"I'm not going to wait around forever, you know," James pointed out. "You _have _to make a decision."

Lily stood there looking at him warily.

"Is it me or Radley?" James asked.

Lily looked at him and the sincerity in his face and voice. She bit her lip and then opened her mouth to respond when she was interrupted with an arm looping around her back. Lily turned her head to see Sirius standing there with his arm around her and the rest of her friends close behind.

"So where have you two been?" Remus asked.

"Yeah, we just found out that Gigi and Sirius aren't only dating, they're having a baby," Kacie said.

"And naming it Peter," Peter said with a grin.

"Whoa, hold up here," Gigi said.

James and Lily didn't tear their eyes away from each other. "Oh," was all Lily could think of to say.

Sirius looked at her strangely. "They're kidding Lils. We're not pregnant."

"Well I'd hope you aren't," Gigi said. "Because that would be a miracle."

"But kind of cool," Remus responded.

"Yeah," James said distractedly, not taking his eyes off of Lily.

"So what did Radley have to say?" Gigi wondered.

"I thought his name was Bradley," Sirius said.

Lily didn't answer her. Probably because she was too busy reading James's body language. She looked into his eyes trying to decide how sincere he was but it was too hard to tell with him being tense because all their friends were standing around. "Fine."

Her friends exchanged confused glances. "Fine? That doesn't answer the question," Kacie pointed out.

"Huh?" Lily asked, finally taking her eyes off of James and looking at their friends.

"Okay, you guys are acting weird," Sirius said. "Which normally wouldn't be so strange but you two are acting weirder than usual."

"No, _you're_ weird," James argued lamely.

"That's the best you got?" Sirius asked with a little laugh. "Nice comeback."

"Asshole," James said.

Sirius gasped and started pouting. "That was just plain mean," Sirius said with a hurt look on his face.

"Okay, let's not just keep standing here," Remus said.

"Let's go upstairs," Sirius suggested. "I don't like talking to the middle of the hallway."

"But you don't have a problem snogging in the middle of the hallway," Gigi teased.

"Depends who I'm snogging," Sirius said with a wink.

"Well I hear Professor McGonagall likes being snogged in classrooms not hallways," Remus said.

"Ew! Not even _I _would joke about that," Sirius said, taking his arm away from Lily and putting it around Gigi and walking away.

Lily and James once again turned to look at each other but didn't say a word.

Kacie turned around. "You guys coming?"

Lily stole one more glance at James and nodded. "Yeah, we're right behind you." And with that said, she turned her back to James and followed her friends through the hallway.

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_what's going to happen now that everyone knows about sirius and gigi? is lily going to give james another chance? is james going to break up with nancie? is lily definitely going to go out with radley again?_

_REVIEW TO FIND OUT!!_


	34. Snakes, Two Thousand Words, and Ronnie

_**Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 34**_

_okay just to clear something up: when lily said "fine" distractedly at the end of the previous chapter, she was NOT saying fine to james. she was just distracted and her head was clouded and "fine" was the only thing that came out of her mouth. so her and james aren't getting back together...yet (or maybe never...who knows! hehe i'm evil)_

_Disclaimer: I'm J.K. Rowling so therefore everything belongs to me... HA, i wish!_

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"Oh c'mon," Sirius said, moving from sitting on top of the couch to sitting on the arm. "Just because Jillie says no doesn't mean she doesn't want to go out with you."

"What world are _you _living in?" Remus asked.

"Well I'm sorry I don't know what to say," Sirius said with a pout. "_I've_ never been rejected before."

"That's bullshit," Gigi said. "I must have told you at least a hundred times to leave me alone."

Sirius turned to look at her. "Damn, I forgot you were here."

"When a girl says no to a guy," Lily followed up, "it usually not only means no but also go away, leave me the hell alone, and I'm getting my brother and/or guy friends to beat you to the ground if you come near me."

"All that from a two letter word?" Peter asked.

"You forgot to say that it usually means that we'll nail your ass to your seat if you even try to take a step towards us," Kacie noted.

"Remind me to keep at least a hundred feet between me and Jillie at all times," Remus said.

"Make it a thousand," Gigi, Kacie, and Lily all responded.

"Should I just transfer schools?" Remus said.

The girls exchanged glances. "Yeah, that's probably best," Lily confirmed.

"You want him to leave?" Sirius asked.

"It's for his best interest," Gigi noted.

They all looked at each other and burst out laughing. It had been two days since James and Lily met up in the hallway and they haven't spoken to each other or even looked in each other's direction since the confrontation in the hallway after Radley asked Lily out for another date. Lily had this date with Radley in three days and she still couldn't decide what to do. And it didn't help that her and James were completely avoiding each other.

"Hey, did you guys know that baby rattlesnakes are born without rattles?" Sirius asked.

Everyone just stared at him. "For once…I am at a loss for words," Gigi said.

"Where the hell did that come from?" Remus asked.

Sirius shrugged. "I just saw that snake crawling across the room by Kacie's foot and it reminded me of this fact."

"_Snake?_" Kacie cried out, jumping out of her seat.

"Do something about it!" Gigi exclaimed, tugging on Sirius's sleeve.

"I'm sure someone else is taking care of it," Sirius said with a shrug.

"Sirius," Lily said, "when there is a snake slithering around the common room, assume no one is doing anything about it!"

"Okay," Sirius said bluntly.

"Which means _you _should do something about it," Lily urged.

"Why didn't you just say that in the first place?" Sirius asked.

"I figured that doing something about a random snake slithering around wasn't something I had to tell you," Lily said.

"That snake has been slithering around for at least ten minutes," Remus said. "I'm sure it will eventually get bored and leave."

"Get rid of the snake!" Kacie exclaimed urgently.

Sirius walked over to the snake and picked it up, said a spell, and it vanished into thin air. "Fine, but I know your birthday is coming up Kacie. You'll be sorry to see the thing go."

"If you get me anything that crawls on the floor Black, you are _dead_," Kacie said.

"To be fair, crawling entails legs and a snake has none," Sirius said.

"Well aren't we Mr. I-Know-Everything," Kacie grumbled.

"Now if only this useless information was on tests," Peter said. "Then you'd be doing a hell of a lot better in classes."

Lily looked up and saw a certain messy haired, brown eyed kid enter the room and shot her head back to look at the group. "Gotta go," Lily said abruptly, gathering her books and her bag and jetting out of the common room.

"What the hell was that?" Remus asked, surprised at her sudden interest to leave.

"Hey guys," James said, not even looking at Lily as she passed him to get through the portrait hole. "Whatcha up to?"

"Did you know that baby rattlesnakes are born without rattles?" Remus asked.

"Really?" James asked, sitting down in the spot where Lily was sitting just moments ago. "That's awesome."

"Yeah, he's really smart," Gigi said, smiling at Remus. "He knows so much."

"He knows nothing!" Sirius exclaimed. "He learned it from me!"

"You expect me to believe that you knew something that no one else here knew?" James asked with a laugh.

Sirius pouted. "Next time, I'm keeping my mouth shut."

"Finally!" Kacie cried out as she ducked from the pillow thrown in her direction.

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"So is it just an illusion?" Sirius asked the next day.

James banged his head against the table. "We have been talking about this for five minutes. Isn't it time to move on?"

"I just don't get it!" Sirius cried out. "It's a lap when you're sitting down, but when you get up, it vanishes! So therefore, it must be some sort of deception."

"Yes," Remus answered hurriedly. "It's an illusion. End of story. Next topic."

"How the hell do you put up with him?" Kacie asked Gigi.

Gigi grinned. "If only you knew how well he kisses."

Sirius gasped. "That's the _only _reason you like me?"

"Well you're also hot," Gigi added.

Sirius grinned. "That's better."

"Sirius isn't hot," Kacie noted. "I mean there's a lot better looking out there."

"Why? Why?" Sirius demanded to know. "I'm not smart. I have no style. I tend to ramble when talking which apparently annoys people. And I am not the nicest person. Being hot is all I got. Why would you take that away from me?"

"You can't take something away from someone who never had it," Kacie said, taking a sip of water.

"You better watch yourself Hunter," Sirius said. "I can still give you a snake for your birthday."

Kacie smirked. "You tell me the actual date of my birthday, and I'll allow you to give me a snake. Hell, you can give me an entire family of snakes."

Sirius paused to think. He thought real hard about it and then groaned. "That's not fair! I just told you I wasn't smart. I'm bad at memorization!"

"You could have at least guessed," Gigi muttered.

"July 8th?" Sirius guessed.

"You got the month right," Remus said with a shrug.

"No he didn't," Kacie said.

"Shh," Remus hushed. "I'm trying to give him the benefit of the doubt."

The group exchanged glances and burst into laughter, Kacie playfully throwing a pillow at Sirius. James laughed as Sirius ducked and the pillow hit Gigi square in the face. He shook his head and rolled his head as he moved to the ground, leaning against the couch.

"Do you guys realize that our lives here at Hogwarts are completely ending in a month?" James brought up.

"Not Sirius," Gigi joked. "He still has three or four more years left."

"That's not true!" Sirius cried out and then shrugged. "Two at most."

James rolled his eyes and noticed a girl with fiery red hair walk into the commons room. He got up hastily and quickly said, "Gotta go now."

"Wait, I have a question," Sirius said. "Did you-"

"Bye!" James exclaimed, rushing out of the room.

"What the hell was that about?" Peter asked as he watched James literally jog out of the room.

Lily didn't notice him since he rushed up to the boy's room instead of out of the commons room. "Hey everyone."

There was a chorus of "hey Lily" as she sat down on the ground on her stomach with her feet up in the air.

"So there's really only a month left?" Sirius asked, going back to the previous topic of discussion.

"A little less than a month," Remus said.

"Damn," Sirius muttered under his breath. "I guess I should start studying."

"You haven't studied for the past six and a half years," Gigi pointed out. "Why start now?"

"Good point," Sirius said, sliding down on the couch and putting his arm around Gigi.

Lily looked around at her friends and frowned. Only a month left of Hogwarts and then they'll all be out in the real world. How can such a big group stay so close when they won't be together all the time? And if she and James can't even work things out now, who's to say the group will stay together. Lily sighed heavily.

Kacie turned to Lily. "What's on your mind?"

Lily glanced around at a couple of first years playing chess, some third years making fun of the second years, a few of the fourth and fifth years mingling and playing exploding snaps, and a sixth year sitting by the fire while reading. "I love this place."

"It's been home for seven years," Gigi said. "What's not to love?"

"I could do without Sirius though," Lily said.

"Hey, whoa, hold up a sec," Sirius said.

"Me too," Gigi responded.

Sirius gawked at Gigi. "I can't believe you just said that."

"Yeah, Si's not a bad guy once you get to know him," Remus said with a shrug.

"I could do without you too," Gigi said to Remus.

Remus looked at Gigi momentarily and then turned to Sirius. "You're on your own."

Lily laughed but immediately got off the ground when she saw James coming down from the boy's staircase. "Oops, I have stuff to do. Bye!" Once again, the group watched her jet out of the room like she was on fire.

James turned the corner and poked his head out to make sure Lily wasn't there. Sure enough, it was safe to enter the common room. "Hey Sirius, do you have extra quills in your room?"

"Yeah," Sirius said. "Look in the desk drawer. Oh wait…no, look in my trunk." Sirius paused. "No, can't be there. Look under my bed maybe…"

"I have some on my desk," Remus responded.

"Thanks," James said and then he turned around to leave.

"No! They are definitely on the top of my-" Sirius started to say.

"He doesn't need them anymore," Remus said as James left the room.

"Good," Sirius said. "Because I'm not sure where they are."

"Oh really? I got the impression you knew exactly where they were," Remus said, rolling his eyes.

Peter turned to the group. "So what the hell is going on with those two?"

"Yeah," Gigi chimed in. "Something weird is definitely going on."

"There is?" Sirius asked, looking up from what he was doing. "What two people?"

The rest of the group stared at him. "Do you live in the same world we're living in?"

"Fantasy world?" Sirius asked.

"Should have known that you have never heard of the real world," Gigi said.

"So she hasn't mentioned anything to you?" Remus asked.

"Who? Who's the she?" Sirius asked.

"Nothing about him," Gigi said. "A lot about homework, graduation, and a whole hell of a lot about how we should study."

"Oooh, you're talking about Lily," Sirius confirmed with a nod. But then he shook his head in a confused manner and turned to his friends. "Wait, so what's wrong with Lily?"

As usual, everyone completely ignored him. "Why are they avoiding each other?" Kacie wondered.

"Who's avoiding who?" Sirius asked.

"Whom," Remus corrected.

"Oh, _now _you pay attention to me," Sirius said, rolling his eyes.

"And he hasn't said anything to you?" Gigi asked and Remus just shook his head.

"Who's the he??" Sirius cried out.

"And what about Radley? We haven't heard much about him recently," Kacie noted.

"What the hell is going on?!" Sirius burst out, jumping up from the couch to get everyone's attention.

"Sirius, how can you be so oblivious?" Gigi asked.

"I'm not oblivious," Sirius said with a shrug. "I just don't know what's going on."

"Which is the exact definition of oblivious," Remus pointed out.

"I don't have time for a grammar lesson!" Sirius cried out.

"Technically that's a vocabulary lesson," Kacie said. Sirius growled at her. "But you don't seem to care for technicalities right now."

"James and Lily are avoiding each other," Gigi responded, finally answering Sirius's question.

"No they're not," Sirius said. "They were in class together all day."

"At total opposite ends of the room," Peter said.

"Without even a glance towards each other," Kacie said.

"And haven't you noticed that whenever we're all together, both of them aren't here. Only one of them at a time," Remus said.

"And they immediately leave if they notice the other one walk into the room," Gigi said.

Sirius sat down. "Damn, you miss a lot when you're not living in the real world."

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"Yeah and then Bennie said that he thought Margie was the fat one," Gigi said making Kacie and Lily laugh out loud. "And they got into an actual fist fight!"

"Man, I wish I didn't miss that," Kacie said, sitting on top of the table with her feet on her chair.

"Well apparently Bennie is a lot stronger than I thought," Gigi said. "But all Margie had to do was sit on him to shut him up."

Lily and Kacie laughed again and sat down at a table, getting out their quills and parchment. Lily looked around the room and noticed the Marauders dart into the room laughing hysterically. She watched as James and Peter gave Sirius a high five while Remus clutched the desk to contain his laughter.

"Looks like they played another prank," Gigi said, rolling her eyes.

"Hide me," Sirius squeaked, running over and hiding behind Gigi.

"Oh yeah, hiding behind a girl who is hardly five feet will do the trick," Lily said, rolling her eyes.

"It could work," Sirius whispered.

"MR. BLACK!" a voice boomed.

"But not this time," Sirius said, coming out from behind Gigi. "Nope Gi, there isn't anything on your back." Sirius gave the professor a grin. "Hey there, just hanging out with my friends…harmlessly."

"That's a load of crap," Professor McGonagall asked, placing her hands on her hips.

Sirius gasped. "Did you just say crap?"

"Answer me!"

"You didn't ask me a question," Sirius pointed out.

"Ten points!" she cried out.

"For not answering a non-existent question??" Sirius cried out.

"Detention!"

"For pointing out that you can't take points off because I didn't answer a question you didn't ask?" Sirius burst out.

"_Two _detentions," Professor McGonagall shouted.

"I'm gonna shut up now," Sirius said. She scowled at him and walked away. "Hey professor? Will the detentions be with you? You know how much I love spending time with you."

"I'm not amused by your sucking up," she retorted and turned on her heels, walking towards the front of the room.

Sirius grinned and winked at Gigi. "Totally worth the ten points and detention."

"Two detentions," Gigi pointed out.

"Damnit!"

Gigi rolled her eyes at her boyfriend as he walked away and put his hand up for another round of high fives from his friends.

"Oh and Mr. Black?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Yes professor?" Sirius asked, turning away from his friends to look up at the front of the room.

"Also write me an essay of why pranks are wrong," she said with a smirk.

Sirius's jaw dropped. "You can't do that!"

"One thousand words," she added.

"_What?_"

"Okay…_two _thousand words," Professor McGonagall corrected.

"I don't even _know _two thousand words," Sirius hissed to his friends, slumping down in his chair with a displeased look on his face.

Lily smiled a little as Sirius lowered his head a little and banged it against the desk a few times. She tried hard not to glance at James but couldn't help noticing that out of the corner of her eye, it appeared that James was gazing in her direction while acting like he was paying attention to what Remus was saying.

"So you actually gonna take notes this time?" Kacie asked Lily.

Lily tore her eyes away from the Marauders. "Huh?"

"You didn't take notes in Defense Against the Dark Arts today or Potions yesterday," Kacie noted.

Lily shrugged. "Yeah, I'll take notes now. There was nothing important to write down in the other two classes."

Gigi glanced up at Kacie who just shrugged and slid into her chair. Lily sighed and it took all her might to face the front of the classroom and not turn to her side to see what James was doing.

Lily glanced at the doorway as Radley walked through it. He smiled and walked over to Lily. "Hey you," he said. "I thought you had disappeared or something. I haven't seen you for a few days."

"Yeah, I've been really busy," Lily said with a forced smile.

"We still on for tonight?" Radley asked.

Lily paused and realized she's been trying so hard not to think about James and what he said to her that she hadn't thought about Radley and their date at all. She tried glancing over at James but Radley was blocking her view.

Eventually she smiled up at Radley. "Of course," she said, wondering to herself why she had to force herself to smile and say that. Radley smiled and walked to the back of the room.

Lily stole at glance at James who was completely ignoring his friends and staring right at Lily with a frown on his face. She sighed and turned back to her friends and faced the front, knowing that once again, she wasn't going to be able to take notes. She sighed again and leaned her elbow on the table and blankly stared at McGonagall as she started class.

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"Who assigns group projects with only a month of school left?" Sirius groans, walking out of Advanced Transfiguration.

"At least you got a good partner," Remus mumbled, angry that he got stuck with the school's goof-off.

"Ronnie Watson?" Sirius asked, raising her eyes. "That whore is too busy having sex with every guy in the school. She won't do any work."

"You used to envy that whore," James noted.

"He used to try and have sex with that whore," Peter said.

"Can we not call her 'that whore?' She-" Remus started.

"Who's a whore?" Ronnie asked, coming up from behind the boys.

"Sirius," Remus immediately answered.

Ronnie just flashed them a smile and turned to Sirius. "Wanna meet me tonight?"

"He has a girlfriend," James answered quickly.

Ronnie gave him a puzzled look. "Wanna meet me tonight to work on the project," she rephrased.

James gave her a sheepish grin. "I knew that."

"Wait, you have a girlfriend?" Ronnie asked, almost sounding like she was a little disappointed (and confused).

"No," Sirius said. "Who told you that?"

Ronnie gave him a strange look and then glanced at the other boys who just shrugged and gave her quizzical looks. She turned back to Sirius, "Meet me in the library tonight at eight." And with one more questioning look at all the boys, she turned on her heels and left.

"So what does Gigi think about you working with the female Casanova of the school?" James asked.

Sirius shrugged. "I'm sure she's fine and doesn't really care."

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"Ronnie Watson?!" Gigi cried out. "He can't work with her!"

"Why not?" Lily asked, glancing behind her and seeing the boys close behind them on the stairs.

"Because she's Ronnie Watson," Gigi exclaimed.

"Oh, well as long as you've got a good reason," Kacie said, rolling her eyes.

"That girl is a sex god," Gigi said.

"You know this from experience?" Lily asked with a snicker but she soon shut up when Gigi glared at her.

"She can get any guy she wants," Gigi said. "Sirius has wanted to get with her since day one but she always intimidated him. You hear that? Sirius was actually _scared _of a girl! And now they'll be working together every day til the end of the year."

"Gi…and I say this with love…" Kacie said calmly, "you're a moron."

"How are you saying that with love?" Gigi grumbled.

"Sirius wouldn't cheat on you," Lily said.

"Really?" Gigi cried out. "Because he's done it before."

"You guys walk fast," Sirius said, practically running up the stairs to catch up with them.

Gigi looked at Lily and Kacie and then smiled fakely at Sirius. "Hello."

"Why'd you guys dart out of the classroom so fast?" Remus questioned, looking behind him and noticing James descending the stairs as fast as possible.

"Girl talk," Kacie responded.

"Ew, enough said," Sirius said, wrinkling his nose up.

"So what are you up to tonight?" Gigi asked, intertwining her fingers with Sirius's.

"Hanging out with Ronnie," Sirius said.

Gigi immediately let go of Sirius's hand. "What?"

"I think he means he's working on a really boring project with a really dull person," Remus corrected.

"He's working with Ronnie," Gigi said.

"Did I say dull?" Remus said. "I meant really hot."

Gigi growled at him.

Remus backed away and turned to Peter. "Did she just growl at me?" he whispered.

"I'd walk away now," Peter murmured.

"How come you got gorgeous Ronnie and I got stuck with stupid Kacie?" Gigi mumbled.

"Standing right here," Kacie noted.

"Oh c'mon," Sirius exclaimed. "She's not that gorgeous. And Kacie isn't _that_ stupid."

"Again…standing right here," Kacie said, pointing to herself.

"Whatever," Gigi mumbled. "C'mon Kace, let's go work on our project."

"You want me to go with you after you just called me stupid?" Kacie asked.

"Yes," Gigi said firmly and with evil eyes.

"Okay," Kacie said. "But only because you look like you're about to kill me with your eyes if I don't follow you."

Gigi rolled her eyes and left with Kacie. Lily laughed at them and turned to Sirius, "So are you-"

"Lily!" Gigi cried out. "Aren't you coming with us?"

"But you're with stupid Kacie," Lily said. "I can't be seen with her."

"Seriously, standing _right _here," Kacie claimed.

"Let's _go,_" Gigi mumbled angrily. Lily laughed at Kacie's comment and followed the girls, waving goodbye to the guys.

"What the hell was that about?" Sirius asked.

"Obviously Gi isn't cool with you working with Ronnie," Remus said.

"Why would Gigi care?" Sirius asked. "She knows I don't care for Ronnie. And she's never been the jealous type before."

"Do you blame her?" Remus asked. "You flirt with everything in a skirt."

"You even flirt with guys," Peter said.

"What??" Sirius cried out.

"Remember? You batted your eyelashes and told Mincus that the shirt he was wearing looked great on him," Peter said.

"When he was wearing robes," Remus added.

"Oh, I just wanted to borrow a quill," Sirius said. "I would have done anything for a quill."

"Vigorously taking notes?" Remus joked.

"Yes," Sirius answered.

"Meaning you were writing down an idea for a prank," Peter said.

"Exactly," Sirius confirmed.

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"Why so quiet?" Sirius asked Gigi later that afternoon.

Gigi looked up. "I'm doing homework. It's supposed to be quiet."

Sirius shrugged. "I wouldn't know." Gigi rolled her eyes. "You've been quiet all afternoon though."

"No I haven't."

"I asked you four times how you were and every time, you just shrugged your shoulders," Sirius pointed out.

"I'm fine," Gigi urged and then looked back up at him. "Happy?"

Sirius closed his book. "What is up with you?"

"Nothing," she mumbled.

"Did I do something wrong?" Sirius asked, sliding his chair closer to his girlfriend.

Gigi looked into his warm eyes and sighed. "No. You didn't do anything." Gigi sighed again at how stupid she was being. "Just forget it."

Sirius gave her a wary look. "Does this have to do with Ronnie?"

"Didn't I just say to just forget it?"

"Yeah, but if I listened then I wouldn't be me," Sirius said with a grin.

Gigi paused and then groaned. "Yeah, I hate that about you."

Sirius inched his chair forward and rested his head in his hand, slightly touching her arm with his other hand. "So?"

Gigi sighed and refused to look at Sirius. She just glanced down at the table, kicking herself mentally for even thinking jealous thoughts of Sirius and Ronnie. Sirius's days of being a player and a cheater were over…right?

Gigi shrugged. "I just don't like Ronnie."

"Why?"

Gigi shrugged again. "Because."

Sirius sighed with annoyance in his voice. 'Because isn't an answer."

Gigi looked at him, jerked her arm away from his touch, and then raised her voice, "because she has big boobs and sex on her mind every minute of every day. Because she's a slut who couldn't hold a relationship if her life depended on it. Because she's hot!"

Sirius didn't say anything for a few seconds until a smile crept up on his face. "You're so cute."

That threw Gigi off guard. "What?"

Sirius smirked. "You're jealous."

"I am _not_," Gigi argued, even though she knew it was true.

"You're cute when you're jealous," Sirius said with a slight smile.

"I am _not _jealous," Gigi exclaimed again.

"I don't want Ronnie," Sirius said. "I don't like Ronnie. I didn't even notice she was hot."

Gigi gave him a look.

"Okay, scratch that last one," Sirius said. "But I don't care about her. If you think I'm gonna do something with her, you're wrong. I would never do something that stupid to screw this up."

"Oh really?" Gigi snapped. "Because you've done it before." Right after she said it, she instantly regretted it and mentally slapped herself…_hard_.

Sirius pushed back his chair and got up. "Are you always gonna throw that in my face? Are you ever gonna let that go?"

"I have!" Gigi cried out and then sighed. "I'm trying to."

"Doesn't look like you're trying very hard," Sirius muttered irritably. "You use that against me every time we talk."

"Well can you _blame _me?" Gigi exclaimed.

"That was almost _two _years ago Gi," Sirius explained. "I've changed."

"You cheated on Lucie also," Gigi pointed out.

"With _you_."

"You still did it," Gigi retorted. "Face it, no matter what you have, you always want more."

"I can't believe you would say that!" Sirius shouted.

"Shhh," Gigi hissed, glancing around the room to see everyone staring at them. "You're making a scene."

"Well you should like it," Sirius said hastily. "You always have to be the center of attention. Here's your chance. Flash them a smile. Hell, _flash _them for all I care."

Gigi gave him a stern look.

"Or don't," Sirius said with a shrug.

"Well speaking of attention, at least I don't have the attention span of a goldfish," Gigi huffed.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Sirius asked.

"You stick to a girl about as long as you stick to a piece of gum," Gigi argued. "You're never satisfied with what you have…with the person you have. You're always looking around for something better."

Sirius gathered his things in a hurry and looked up just long enough to say, "I can't believe that after a month of dating me, you still don't trust me."

Gigi looked up at him with no expression on her face and didn't say anything. Sirius waited for her to say something but when she made no notion to do so, he sighed and picked up the rest of his stuff.

"This relationship is nothing if you can't learn to trust me," Sirius said. He looked up at her and said, "and it looks to me that no matter what I do or say, you won't trust me."

Gigi and Sirius stared at each other trying to comprehend what just happened. Sirius started to walk away not sure about what he wanted at the moment.

"So…that's it?" Gigi exclaimed helplessly.

Sirius paused to give some thought to what he just said to her. With one more glance at Gigi, he said, "I guess it has to be."

Gigi opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. She _did _trust him…didn't she? She snuck a peek behind her and watched Sirius walk away and into the company of Ronnie. She sighed angrily and slammed her books shut.

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_lily and james are doing an excellent job of avoiding each other...how long will they keep this up? and uh oh, trouble in paradise for gigi and sirius...will they get back together or go their seperate ways and date several girls/guys like they did before dating each other? will the group find out gigi and sirius broke up?_

_REVIEW TO FIND OUT!!_


	35. Chocolate, Salt & Pepper, & Firewhiskey

**_Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 35_**

_thanks to everyone who reviewed! I really appreciate it. i know a lot of you are upset that lily and james are still broken up and now that gigi and sirius have broken up for good (or have they?)_

_disclaimer: it's the 35th chapter...i think you know what goes here by now_

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Lily twirled around and looked at herself in the mirror. She changed from the black top to the purple top to the pink tank top back to the black top. She sighed and took one more glance at herself. She smiled, satisfied with how she looked and happy that she was finally done getting ready. She looked around her empty room and grabbed a purse, deciding to wait in the common room. She sat down on the couch and glanced around, frowning at how quiet it was.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when a door flung open and in walked James from his room. James and Lily just sat (and stood) there staring at each other with nothing to say.

James cleared his throat. "Hi."

Lily waved nervously because she couldn't seem to find her voice. James glanced around the room awkwardly and turned around to walk into his room when the portrait hole flew open and in walked Radley.

Lily stood up and smiled at Radley. "Hey."

James winced when he heard Lily say 'hey' because he already knew who would be standing there when James whirled around. He sighed to himself and turned back around to see Radley give Lily a hug. Lily stole a glance at James and then looked back at Radley.

"You ready to go?" Radley asked Lily.

Lily glanced from Radley to James and back at Radley again. She stood there biting her lip trying to figure out just what she wanted to do. She refused to think about it all week because that meant she would have James on her mind and she was afraid if that happened, she'd never get him off her mind. What did she really want?

Lily glanced at James out of the corner of her and turned her attention back to Radley. Lily cleared her throat and looked up at him. "Actually-" she started, staring intensely over Radley's shoulder and right at James, who couldn't help but stare right back at her.

"Hey babe," a voice said, walking in from the portrait hole, walking around Lily and Radley as if they weren't standing there at all.

Lily closed her mouth and looked at Nancie walk past Radley and Lily and plant a kiss on James's cheek. She sighed, tore her eyes away from James, and smiled up at Radley. "Let me grab my purse." Lily took her purse from the couch, refused to look at James, and walked out behind Radley.

Nancie grabbed James's hand and led him into his room. James glanced over his shoulder at the spot where the portrait hole just closed before shutting the door to his room.

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Forty minutes later, Lily was saying the password to get into her common room and trudged in. She stopped abruptly when she saw James sitting on the couch…alone. She gave him a quizzical look, trying to comprehend what to do next.

James looked up, obviously startled by Lily's appearance. He closed the book he was reading slowly and said, "Back so soon?"

Lily shifted her weight a little and shrugged, not really sure what to say. She glanced around the room and awkwardly asked, "Where's Nancie?"

James didn't answer for a little bit until he opened his mouth to say, "Where's Radley?"

Once again, Lily shifted her weight nervously. "There is just one problem I have with him."

"What?" James asked curiously.

Lily stopped shifting anxiously and stood her ground, staring right into James's eyes. She said in a low whisper, "He isn't you."

James stopped and looked at her apprehensively, not sure if he heard her right. "What?"

Lily walked confidently over to the couch, placed her hands firmly on his shoulders and kissed him hard on the mouth. James was thrown off by this, but leaned back in the couch, wrapping his arms around Lily's neck. Lily melted into the kiss and leaned against his chest with her own chest, pushing him against the back of the couch. James's tongue entered her mouth, circling her tongue as she gently pressed on his shoulders to show how much she wanted it, a tiny moan escaping from her lips.

They broke apart and James grinned up at Lily. "I missed you."

"I haven't gone anywhere," Lily noted, settling down on the couch next to James and laying her head against his shoulder, smiling when James took her hand.

James smiled and kissed her forehead. "Yeah you did," he whispered before leaning in for another kiss. "I'm just glad you found your way back."

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"You did _what?_" Remus shrieked.

Sirius sighed and slumped down in his bed. "I don't know why I did it."

"I do," Remus noted.

"Why?"

"Because you're a moron," Remus said.

"Well I'm so glad we clarified that," Sirius said, rolling his eyes. He sat up and looked at Peter and Remus. "I just don't get it. I mean, I didn't want to break up with her. It just kind of came out. Whenever I'm around her, I act so stupid."

"That's not just when you're around her," Peter pointed out.

Sirius got up and started pacing. "Where's James?"

"I think he's with Nancie," Remus said.

"So while I'm sitting here fretting over breaking up with the only good thing to ever happen to me, he's having sex?" Sirius exclaimed.

"You don't know that they're having sex," Peter said.

Sirius glanced over and glared at Peter.

"You're right," Peter said. "They are totally doing it."

"Not helping," Remus hissed and then turned his attention back to Sirius. "Why don't you just talk to her?"

Sirius paced a few more times without saying anything. He sighed and sat down on the windowsill, staring out the window. Finally, without looking away from the window, he said, "Because," and then with another sigh, he added, "Because I don't want to."

"Huh?"

"I suddenly realize why James hasn't gotten back together with Lily," Sirius said. He finally looked away from the window and at his two best friends. "No matter what I do, Gigi will never trust me again. And I hate knowing that she never really will."

"Yeah, but unlike James, you gave Gigi a reason to not trust you," Remus said.

Sirius turned his attention back to looking at the pouring rain through the window. He was silent for several seconds before he opened his mouth to say, "I know. And now things will never be the same."

"And you're okay with that?" Peter asked.

Sirius got up and started pacing the room again. "Of course not. But there's nothing I can do. I have tried and tried to convince her that I've changed, that I'm different. But obviously, she doesn't want to believe it."

"Well I think she _wants _to believe it," Remus said. "It's just very hard to trust someone when you've spent a portion of your life _not _trusting them."

Sirius stopped pacing and glared at Remus. "Whose side are you on?"

Remus gave him a nervous look. "Well…I'd say I'm on nobody's side, but you're giving me a very evil look. So I'm gonna say I'm on your side."

"Good answer," Sirius said, sitting back down on the windowsill. He sighed and watched the rain trickle down the window while replaying the entire conversation with Gigi over and over in his head. He didn't mean to break up with her; it just slipped out of his mouth. But it was probably for the best. He couldn't be with someone who didn't completely forgive him for all his mistakes (even if it was a huge mistake) and couldn't even trust him to work on a simple project with another girl.

Remus looked at Sirius helplessly and glanced over at Peter who just shrugged at him. "I'm sure he's okay," Peter whispered naively.

Remus gazed back up at Sirius and reached into his trunk and took out his stash of chocolate. "Hey Padfoot," he said. Sirius sighed and slowly turned to look at Remus with sad eyes. "Want a chocolate?"

Sirius sighed again and just shook his head lamely. He glanced up at Peter and Remus and then turned back to staring out the window.

"Oh my god," Peter exclaimed. "He's _not _okay!"

"Hey guys," James said, barging into the room with a giant smile. "Are you—ooh, chocolate!"

Remus just rolled his eyes at James but passed the chocolate his way.

James swallowed an entire piece whole, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and looked up at his friends. "So guess what??"

Peter and Remus looked up from the floor. "What?"

James grinned and glanced over at his best friend to see his reaction but noticed that Sirius wasn't even paying attention. "What's wrong Padfoot?"

"Rain sucks," he muttered.

James looked to his other friends for help. "It's been raining for hundreds of thousands of years," James pointed out. "That can't possibly be what's wrong."

"That girl just fell into a deep puddle of water and she is now soaking wet," Sirius mumbled.

"So?" Peter asked.

"And she's wearing a white skirt," Sirius said.

"Move over!" Peter, Remus, and James all cried out. Sirius just scooted to the left and let them all look out the window.

"What idiot wears white when it's raining?" Sirius garbled.

"Okay, you are ruining this moment for us," James said, grinning as the girl attempted to get up and she ended up falling once again.

"You guys are awful," Sirius said. "That girl obviously just wants to get inside out of the pouring rain and you three are laughing at her and enjoying her pain."

James slowly turned and gave Sirius a confused look. "Normally, you'd be taking pictures of her and taking bets on what color her underwear is."

"It's a thong," Peter corrected.

Both Sirius and James glared at him.

"Carry on," Peter said sheepishly.

James rolled his eyes and turned to Sirius. "What's gotten into you?"

"Nothing," Sirius mumbled, turning away from James and staring out into the middle of the room.

James looked at Remus and Peter for answers. Peter and Remus exchanged looks and walked away from the window. "He got dumped."

"No I didn't!" Sirius cried out, getting up from the windowsill and pacing back and forth for the third time that night. "_I _broke up with _her_. If anyone got dumped, _she _was the one who was dumped! So therefore I am the dump_er_ not the dump_ee_."

"Whoa, who'd you dump?" James asked.

Sirius, Remus, and Peter looked at him like he was crazy.

James shook his head frantically, finally understanding what was going on. "You dumped _Gigi?_" James hissed. He slapped Sirius on the shoulder. "What the hell is wrong with you? Why'd you do that?"

"Because she slapped me," Sirius said. "Watch out or I'll dump you next."

"Seriously, why'd you break up with her?" James asked, lying down on Sirius's bed, leaning against his pillow.

"Kinda why you didn't get back together with Lily," Sirius said. "Because I have a reputation of being a player and no matter what I do and no matter how much I try and show her that I care for her and only her, she will never trust me."

"But you guys will work it out," James said. "She wants to trust you. But once you do something, it's hard to gain trust back."

Sirius looked up at him. "Who the hell are you? A shrink?"

James rolled his eyes and ignored the comment. "Come on, you and Gigi can't break up. I just got used to you guys not yelling at each other."

"If she can't trust me, I'll just find a girl who can," Sirius mumbled.

"Well that rules out Lucie," Remus snickered.

"And the entire girl population of Hogwarts," Peter added.

Sirius slowly turned towards them and glared at them evilly.

"I don't think this is the time to joke," Remus whispered to Peter, not daring to take his eyes off of Sirius and giving him a sheepish grin.

Peter turned to look at James. "So what was your news?"

"What?"

"You came in here shouting guess what," Peter said. "What's so important?"

James glanced over at Sirius who was now lying down on his bed, propped up by his elbow. He sighed for the third time in twenty seconds and was pounding his pillow (supposedly to make it "fluffier"). James bit his lip nervously and then looked back at Peter with a shrug. "It's not important."

"You made it sound very exciting," Remus pointed out.

James stole another glance at Sirius. "No, it's-"

"Hey Sirius?" Lily asked, poking her head into the room. "Do you have the Transfiguration book I let you borrow?"

Sirius didn't even say anything, he just pointed at his desk, which James was sitting at right now. Lily glanced over, saw it, and walked over to pick it up. "By the way, it's your turn to do the rounds tonight," Lily said to James. "Don't forget."

"I won't," James said. "I'll do them later."

Lily gave him a look.

James got up. "Or I can do them right now…"

Lily laughed and kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks," she said, and then left the room.

James turned to see the shocked looks on Remus, Peter, and Sirius. "Well, guess I should go now…see you guys later."

"You're not going anywhere," Remus warned.

"Not exciting?" Peter asked, raising his eyebrows, referring to James's previous comment about his news.

"Last time I checked, you and Lily were avoiding each other and not talking. Now you're kissing?" Remus asked and then he gasped. "Oh my gosh, you had make up sex tonight, didn't you!"

"Okay first of all," James started, "yes. And second of all, let's not talk about this now."

"Don't not talk about it on my account," Sirius mumbled. "I don't care."

"You know what you need," James said, getting over to sit beside Sirius on his bed.

"Strip club?" Remus suggested.

"Hm, I was gonna say brownies," James said and then broke up into a huge grin "But your idea is way better."

Sirius looked up, still having a miserable look on his face. "Can we do both?"

James slapped him playfully on the back. "That's the spirit!"

"Do we have any alcohol right now?" Sirius asked.

"It's a Thursday," Remus pointed out.

"What's your point?"

"That you'll be hungover tomorrow and not pay attention at all in your classes," Remus said.

"So?"

"So, teachers tend to not enjoy it when their students come in with a major hangover," Remus noted.

Sirius gave him a blank stare.

"Oh give him the alcohol," James said. "This conversation could go on all night."

"Yeah, and I never pay attention in class anyway!" Sirius exclaimed.

"But that's really irresponsible Padfoot," Remus pointed out.

Sirius stared at him. "And when was the last time I was responsible?"

Remus paused. "But the professors are going-"

"Oh, just give it to him!" James interrupted. "I don't want to hear Sirius' complaints the rest of the night."

"You just want the alcohol, too," Sirius snickered.

"Well yes, that too."

The four boys looked at each and burst out laughing. James glanced at Sirius who threw his head back and joined in on the laughter. James smiled and knew that no matter what happened, his best friend was going to be okay.

Sirius gazed over at his four friends and for the first time that night, smiled a little. He turned his attention to Peter and Remus who were leaning against the window on the windowsill with goofy grins on their faces and then turned his gaze to James who was sitting right next to Sirius. Sirius knew that with friends like these, he was going to be okay.

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Gigi sat in the corner of the Astronomy Tower, hugging her knees close to her chest. She wanted to say something to Sirius as he just walked away after telling her that because she didn't trust him, he couldn't be with her. She wanted to open her mouth; tell him she cared so much for him or tell him he meant everything to her. Just say something…_anything_. But instead she watched him walk away and say hi to Ronnie with a huge smile on his face.

She couldn't even cry about it. She felt that she wanted to, but no matter what she thought about, the tears didn't come. She just sat there in the dark corner thinking about him, hoping that it wasn't true. Maybe that's why she couldn't cry about it…because it didn't seem real to her.

She was so used to Sirius screwing up everything between them that even if she tried speaking to him, she wouldn't know what to say. She wanted to trust him; she tried so hard to believe everything he said, but it was hard not getting jealous and overprotective after everything that happened between them.

And he seems pretty pissed about her not being able to trust him. But she _did _trust him…or at least, she wanted to. Even if she tried going to talk to him, he would probably just slam the door in her face and she couldn't handle it. She hated that the one guy she cared so much for pretty much detested her. She didn't even know what she'd say to him because honestly, she wasn't sure she could trust him.

She glanced over at the Astronomy Tower stairs, frowned and quickly turned away, hugging her knees even closer to her chest.

&&& FLASHBACK &&&

"Go away," Gigi urged without looking up from her parchment.

"Why?" Sirius questioned.

"Because if I bite your head off, I'll go to jail," Gigi said, finally glancing up. "And I don't like jail."

"You've been there before?"

"GO!"

"Fine, fine," Sirius mumbled. "I can take a hint."

"Really? Because you've been standing there for ten minutes," Gigi said. "I'm pretty sure you can't take a hint."

"Wanna take a walk?" Sirius asked.

Gigi glared up at him.

"Bet my head is looking really good right about now?" Sirius asked with a smirk.

Gigi clenched her teeth at him.

"I'll go get you salt and pepper," Sirius said, but didn't make any motion to move.

Gigi finally slammed her paper down and looked up at Sirius. "What the hell do you want?"

"Why are you so hostile? I've hardly ever seen you like this," Sirius noted.

"Because you're an asshole!" Gigi cried out.

"Oh…as long as there's a good reason," Sirius said sarcastically. Sirius just stared at the hurt look on Gigi's face for the longest time. "I'm sorry," he said lamely, almost inaudible.

"What?"

"Look, I just came here to say happy anniversary," Sirius said with a shrug.

Gigi gave him a quizzical look, the angry and hurt look still in her eyes. "Anniversary of what?"

"Since the first day I laid eyes on you," Sirius said with a shrug, shifting his weight several times.

"What?"

"We've been friends for five years," Sirius said, shrugging again and not daring to look at Gigi.

"If we're such good friends, why'd you stand me up last night for some bimbo?" Gigi demanded to know.

"Because I'm an idiot," Sirius said, pulling a chair up and sitting next to Gigi. "And if it helps you any, I didn't do anything with that girl."

"I don't care," Gigi said a little too quickly.

"Really?" Sirius asked. "Because let's face it, I've stood you up before for some girl but all of a sudden, you're making a big deal about it."

"Yeah, you've stood me up before and now it's just getting annoying," Gigi argued. "If I'm your friend, you should want to hang out with me. Not ditch me for some slut. Not think about hanging out with m only if every girl in this damn school is busy."

Sirius didn't say anything. Mostly because he couldn't help but notice how vulnerable Gigi looked; her crystal blue eyes frowning along with her mouth. Sirius gave her a smile as she tucked some of her hair behind her ears. "I'm sorry," he repeated.

Gigi looked at him apprehensively, shivering a little bit from his hand gracing her cheek. "So…you really remember that it's been five years?"

"Since the first time I told the guys I was gonna get with you," Sirius said with a grin.

"Yeah and look how that turned out," Gigi said with a matching grin.

"One of these days you'll find me charming and not annoying," Sirius said looking up at Gigi as she got out of her chair.

Gigi nibbled on her lower lip, wanting to tell him that she's found him charming for quite some time now. She slowly turned to Sirius and murmured, "Wanna go to the Astronomy Tower?"

Sirius dropped his jaw and looked at her anxiously. "Wha-what?"

Gigi shrugged and left her parchment on the table. "Well I'm going up there. Maybe I'll see you there."

"You _do _know what happens when a boy and a girl go to the-"

"I'm well aware," Gigi cut him off firmly, not taking her eyes off of Sirius's eyes. She finally turned away and exited the room.

Sirius stood there in awe and didn't even notice the world around him until he leaned back against the table, tripped over it, and fell over on his ass. He gave a cheesy grin to everyone who turned their heads to look at him, and he slowly sat down in his chair to think.

He looked to the doorway where Gigi had just exited and quickly darted after her, not caring that in the process his chair fell backwards. Sirius practically ran out of the room but didn't notice Gigi anywhere so he raced up to the Astronomy Tower, skipping every other step. As he neared the top, he took a break to breathe and looked up to see Gigi standing at the top looking more gorgeous than anyone he's met in his entire life.

He slowly walked up the fifteen or so stairs that were left and caught her off guard as he kissed her. She nearly fell backwards and leaned against the doorway to keep her balance as she wrapped her arms around Sirius and deepened the mind-blowing kiss, a small moan escaping Sirius's mouth, as he reached for the edge of her shirt and slipped it off.

&&& FLASHBACK &&&

And with one more glance at the Astronomy Tower stairs, the tears finally started coming.

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and swallowed the lump in her throat. She glanced up at the doorway once again and this time she saw James standing there. Without saying a word, he walked over to Gigi, sat down beside her, and put his arm around her as she cried harder, crumbling into his arms.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Hey Sirius?" Lily asked, poking her head into the room a few hours later. "Are you-" she stopped and looked at Sirius. "What are you doing?"

Remus looked at Lily with an innocent smile. "He's drinking water."

Lily gave him a look.

"From a firewhiskey bottle," Remus finished with a sheepish grin.

"_Why _is he drinking at ten o'clock at night?" Lily demanded to know.

"Because his teachers yell at him when he drinks in class," Peter noted.

Lily gave him a stern look.

Sirius got up from his bed and dumped the empty firewhiskey bottle in his trashcan. With a slightly goaded glance at Lily, he went into Remus's trunk, ripped open another bottle and went back to sit on his bed as he took a swig.

"You're starting a_nother _bottle?" Lily demanded, walking over to Sirius, reaching for the bottle.

Sirius snatched the bottle out of her reach and gave Lily an annoyed look. "Why do you even care?"

"Well, I don't want to have to explain why there's a passed out guy in this room," Lily said, giving him an equally annoyed look.

"You're not even doing the rounds," Sirius said and then shrugged. "So don't report it at all. Oh, actually I have a better idea."

"What?" Lily asked, annoyance sounding in her voice.

"Leave."

Remus let out a nervous laugh, trying to act as if Sirius was joking. "Ha! Good one Sirius. Really funny. Hilarious in fact."

"I'm being serious," Sirius said, not emotion in his voice.

Remus stopped laughing nervously. "Yeah, I know."

Lily put her hands on her hips and glared angrily at Sirius. "What the hell is your problem?"

"So I'm gonna take that as a no to my suggestion," Sirius said.

Lily turned to Peter and Remus. "I don't know what's going on here, but whatever the hell is the matter with Sirius…_fix _it." And with that said, she turned on her heels and strolled away angrily.

Sirius sat up and closed the firewhiskey bottle, placing it on his desk. "So…she has no idea?"

"I think if she knew that you and Gigi broke up, she'd be a little more sympathetic," Remus said.

"Or better yet," Peter continued, "she'd be _with _Gigi."

Sirius sighed and stared up at the ceiling, listening to the pitter patter of the rain hitting the roof. He glanced at the door and turned on his side, propping himself up by his elbow. "Where's James? He went to do the rounds like two hours ago."

"I'm sure he'll be back soon," Remus said with a shrug.

"He better have brownies with him," Sirius muttered, sitting up and crossing his arm across his chest.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

_yay!! james and lily are back together!! but sirius and gigi aren't anymore _:o( _will they figure out that they are perfect for each other or stay broken up for the remainder of the story?_

_REVIEW!_


	36. Innocence, Claw of Cat, and Hamsters

**_Don't Let your Guard Down  
chapter 36_**

_Happy Thanksgiving weekend to all of those living in the United States! Thanks to everyone for being so patient in between updates...I've been really busy lately and in two weeks, I have my semester ending and tons of finals to go through (oh goody)._

_Disclaimer: yada yada...as much as I wish I was, I'm not JK Rowling...yada yada_

"You know Sirius," Lily said, coming up at lunch a few days later, "most people sit on the bench provided for them."

Sirius looked at the bench where his feet were currently on as he sat on the top of the table and shrugged. "I can see better from here."

"You can see what exactly?" Kacie asked.

"If I was sitting on the bench, I wouldn't be able to notice that that first year Hufflepuff has the good chicken," Sirius said, hopping down from the table. "I'll be right back."

"Don't torment him!" Lily cried out and then sighed. "It's hopeless. That boy is gonna be traumatized for life."

"Oh, that's not necessarily true," Remus noted.

"Hey little boy!" Sirius yelled out. "Give me the chicken or you die!"

"Then again, it's definitely a possibility," Remus corrected, giving Lily a cheesy grin.

James glanced over at the Hufflepuff table. "Is it okay that Sirius is now chasing that boy out of the Great Hall?"

"_What?_" Lily cried out, whipping around to see what Sirius was doing.

James grinned. "Just kidding."

Lily glanced at the water cup she was holding and turned to James with an evil grin on her face. James looked up to see the evil in her eyes. "Don't you _dare_. If you pour that water on me, we are definitely-"

He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence because he was too busy jumping off the bench as the water hit him in the chest and spilled all over his pants.

"I hate you," James exclaimed.

"That's not what you said last night," Lily said with a wink.

"You are ruining my innocent reputation," James hissed.

All his friends burst out laughing and took awhile for them to calm down. Remus even started choking on his shepherd's pie because he was laughing so hard.

"What?" James asked, obviously confused.

"If you think for one second that anyone in this school thought you were ever innocent, you're a bloody idiot," Kacie said between laughs.

James looked at them all and then turned to Lily. "This is all your fault."

"I think it was Sirius who ruined your innocence," Lily pointed out.

"What about me?" Sirius asked, a whole plate of chicken in his hands.

"If it wasn't for you, James would still be innocent," Remus explained.

"No way," Sirius said. "It's Lily who stripped away his innocence."

Lily raised her eyebrows. "Did I bring him to his first strip club? Did I introduce him to alcohol? Did I teach him that dating three girls at once was cool?"

"Did I have sex with him?" Sirius asked.

Lily paused. "So…wanna share some of that chicken?"

Sirius glanced at his plate of chicken and ran off with it.

"You can't eat all that chicken by yourself!" Lily cried out. "Don't come crying to me when you're throwing it all up!"

The whole group turned to see Sirius moving to the other side of the table and gobble down his chicken. They all returned to a conversation between them as Sirius sat a few seats down engrossed in his chicken.

"Okay, so are-" Kacie started but noticed Gigi entering the Great Hall. "Oh hey, there's Gi. Gigi! We're over-" but before she could finish her sentence, Gigi glanced up and then practically ran out of the Great Hall.

Lily turned to Kacie. "Is she mad at you?"

"I don't think so…" Kacie said slowly and then gasped. "Oh crap! I think this is her shirt. She's probably mad that I took it without asking."

"I severely doubt that's why she would be mad at you," Lily said.

"Why?"

"Because that's my shirt," Lily said. Kacie looked down at the shirt and then gave Lily a sheepish grin.

"Eh…black isn't really your color," Kacie said with a shrug.

"What? That's her best color!" James exclaimed. Everyone stared at him. "I swear I'm not gay."

Kacie turned to Lily. "Maybe she's pissed off at _you_."

"That's impossible," Lily said. "I'm an angel."

James snorted.

Lily turned to him. "I'm gonna ignore that."

James laughed and then shrugged it off. "Just relax guys," James said. "She probably just doesn't wanna be around Sirius since it's so soon after the break up."

Lily stopped chewing and Kacie spit out the water she just took a sip of, spraying Remus a little bit. "_What?_"

James glanced at Remus and then back at the girls. "You didn't know?"

"Do we _look _like people who have any idea what you're talking about?" Lily cried out. She got up from the bench and stomped towards Sirius and hit him over the head. "What did you do?"

"Lily!" James cried out, struggling to get off the bench and head her way. "Don't mind her."

Sirius nervously handed the plate of chicken to her. "I didn't realize you wanted the chicken that much."

"Not that!" Lily cried out. "I'm talking about Gigi!"

"Why do you assume it's my fault?" Sirius asked, getting up from the bench and facing Lily.

"Did you cheat on her? Did you bring a bunch of other girls to your room? Did you-"

"I have done _everything _possible to change my reputation! No one in this damn school believes that I have changed! Not the professors, not my girlfriend, not even my friends! _No,_ I didn't cheat on her! But I didn't have to, because she will always assume that I have or that I will!" Sirius cried out, slamming down the plate of chicken and storming out of the Great Hall.

Lily sighed and turned to James with a blank stare. James shrugged, "At least you can have the chicken now."

Lily gave him an irritated look, turned on her heels, and slowly walked out of the Great Hall, glad that Kacie ran to catch up with her.

* * *

Gigi ran up the stairs, skipping every other step, and shoved the door open, scampering into her room and over to her desk and trunk. She grabbed a box from under her bed and stuffed her extra pillow in it, trying hard not to smell it. She was afraid that she would start crying if she smelled the faint scent of Sirius on her pillow. 

She glanced at her desk and grabbed the picture of her and Sirius, throwing it into the box, not caring that the glass shattered into a thousand pieces. She couldn't take the goofy grin on Sirius's face as she was laughing and sitting with him up in their favorite tree. Lily took the picture a month or so again, and it used to be one of Gigi's favorite pictures…but now it's just a shattered memory.

She grabbed her purple shirt, her favorite jeans, a few tank tops, and anything that Sirius said she looked good in. She also snatched anything that Sirius remotely touched or made a comment about. She was about to seize her stuffed bear when a voice rang from the doorway.

"Put the bear down and nobody gets hurt," the voice said.

Gigi turned slowly and saw Lily and Kacie standing there. She sighed and put the box and bear down and then plopped down on her bed.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Lily questioned.

Gigi shrugged but didn't say anything.

"We're your best friends," Kacie urged. "Without us, who would get you tubs of ice cream, enough chocolate to make you the fattest person alive, and lots and lots of alcohol?"

"We're here for you Gi," Lily said. "Just like you—oooh, can I have this?" Lily asked, picking up the purple shirt from the box.

Gigi gave her a look.

"It's ugly anyway," Lily said, throwing it back in the box.

"That was one of my favorite shirts," Gigi pointed out.

"Well I mean ugly in the 'it's gorgeous' sense," Lily concluded. Gigi just gave a slight smile.

"Nice save," Kacie muttered and then turned to Gigi. "So…if it's one of your favorite shirts, do you mind telling me why you're throwing it out?"

"Because Sirius likes it," Gigi said. "Anything he likes, touched, or talked about is going far far away."

"Well he likes you…are you gonna throw yourself out?" Kacie asked.

"If he likes me then why'd he break up with me?" Gigi asked helplessly.

"Because boys are idiots," Lily noted.

"_Bloody _idiots," Gigi mumbled.

"So what do you say we get really drunk and forget about boys altogether?" Lily asked.

"It's a Tuesday afternoon," Gigi said.

"That's never stopped you before," Lily said.

Gigi smiled and put her arms around her friends. "Thanks guys," she whispered into Lily's shoulder as she laid her head upon it, happy to have such good friends.

* * *

"I love summer," Sirius said with a grin, leaning up against a tree. 

"It's still spring," Remus noted.

"Well, I like when it gets hot out," Sirius said.

"Why?"

"I love the flowers. And watching the trees bloom," Sirius said.

Peter, Remus, and James all gave him a look.

"And the warmer the weather, the shorter the skirts," Sirius said with a smirk.

"That's just wrong," Remus reprimanded. "Girls are—oh awesome, that skirt hardly covers that girl's ass!"

Sirius laughed and lay down on his back. "This is the life."

"Sitting under a tree talking about girls' asses?" James asked.

"Hanging out with you guys and not having to worry about work," Sirius said.

"Have you written that Transfiguration essay yet?" Remus asked.

"Or read the chapter in Potions?" Peter wondered.

"…hanging out with you guys not _caring _about work," Sirius corrected himself and then turned to Remus. "What essay?"

"The essay that was due yesterday," Remus said.

"I've got it covered," Sirius said and then paused. "What's it on?"

"We're graduating in three weeks and you haven't done essays that were due two years ago," James said. "How the hell are you graduating?"

Sirius paused. "I'm not sure if I am…"

"I bet you still have at least three more years," Remus said.

"Three years?" James asked, raising his eyebrows. "Try all seven years over again."

"I did homework in my first year," Sirius contested.

"No you didn't," James argued.

"But then how come I remember spending a lot of time with McGonagall?"

"It's called detention," James said.

The group exchanged glances and burst out laughing. James grabbed some grass and threw it in Sirius's general direction and then Sirius proceeded to throw a bunch of sticks at James.

Remus gave a low whistle. "Look at the Klebox triplets."

James and Sirius stopped throwing things at each other and looked at Remus in awe.

Remus looked back at them and shrugged. "See what spending all this time with you guys has done to me."

Sirius sat up and glanced at the triplets sit down on a patch of grass not too far from them. "Do you think those girls would ever be up for a foursome?"

"No way," James said with a laugh. "They are way too innocent."

"Karla has a boyfriend of two years, how innocent can she be?" Sirius asked.

"I heard they just got to the holding hands stage a few months ago," Remus said with a laugh.

"Even _Peter _has gotten farther than that!" Sirius exclaimed, laughing out loud.

"Hey!" Peter cried out, throwing some grass at him. "I'm sitting right here!"

"Haven't you guys learned that throwing grass in my general direction isn't—OW!" Sirius cried out, as Peter took his Potions book and chucked it at Sirius. "Let's go back to throwing grass."

"What about Kirsty and Kellie? Do they have boyfriends?" James asked.

"Why? You looking to date one of them?" Peter teased.

"He's looking to date them _both_," Sirius corrected with a laugh.

"I used to be such good friends with those girls and so I was just wondering what was going on with them lately," James said with a shrug.

"You were only close to them because you wanted to have sex with each and every one of them," Sirius said.

"So did you!" James cried out.

"Yeah but the difference between you and me is that I eventually gave up and moved on to the Juniper twins," Sirius said.

"And got no where with them either," James noted.

"Didn't I snog Jess Juniper?" Sirius asked.

"No, she was the one who called you a no good, rotten, bloody asshole," James said. "And then screamed at you to go to hell."

Sirius paused to think about it and then broke out into a grin. "Oh yeah…she was cute."

"Cute?" James asked, raising his eyebrows. "That's not what you thought when she was putting crushed up spiders into your mashed potatoes."

Sirius narrowed his eyes. "I hate that girl."

Peter, Remus, and James burst into laughter as Sirius clenched his fists. "I am _so _getting even with her."

"She graduated last year," Remus noted.

Sirius paused. "Damnit!"

"Did you ever get anywhere with Jennie?" Peter asked.

"I think she was the one who-" Sirius started but then stopped mid sentence and stared out across the lawn.

Remus, Peter, and James all followed Sirius's gaze to Gigi, Kacie, and Lily walking out of Hogwarts and sitting down on a bench across the way.

Sirius swallowed the lump in his throat and tried hard not to notice how great Gigi looked. She was wearing a short jean skirt with blue high heels that matched her shirt and he couldn't help but notice how great her legs looked, especially when she sat down and crossed them. Sirius sighed as he turned away from Gigi and climbed up into the tree, resting on a branch that was about six or seven feet off the ground.

"So…the Turner triplets are hot, huh?" Peter said slowly after the awkward minute of silence, glancing up in the tree at Siriu.

"Boy, Gigi looks really ugly today, doesn't she," James noted.

"What's with the skirt?" Remus asked. "Jean skirts are so last year."

Sirius gave him a look.

"I'm not gay," Remus protested, glancing up at Sirius amongst the leaves of the tree. "And that shirt is really ugly too."

"It's perfect," Sirius muttered.

"Perfectly _ugly_," James corrected and then paused. "Wait…I think that's Lily's shirt!"

"You just called your girlfriend ugly," Peter said as he and Remus laughed.

"No, I called the _shirt _ugly," James argued.

Sirius rolled his eyes and glanced over again at Gigi as she was throwing her head back and laughing at something Kacie was saying. Sirius sighed and climbed higher up the tree, hoping that climbing the tree would distract him from how hurt he was over the break up with Gigi. In fact, he hoped that if he kept climbing, he'd end up in a land where Gigi wouldn't even exist and he wouldn't have to think about her at all.

James looked up as Sirius climbed the tree. "Hey Sirius? I threw a shoe up there a few months ago. Tell me if you find it."

Remus gave him a look. "Do I even want to know why you threw a shoe up there?"

"Because he thought that's what birds ate?" Peter suggested.

James laughed and threw a crumbled piece of parchment at him. "It's up there because I w-" but James never got to finish his sentence because all three boys turned their heads when they heard a thud.

"Sirius??" Remus cried out as all three boys scrambled to get up and move to the other side of the tree.

"Ohmigod!" James exclaimed. "I don't think he's conscious."

"Is he breathing?" Peter asked, rushing to his side.

Across the way, Lily was laughing as Kacie did her Professor McGonagall impersonation. "Just think," Lily said. "In three and a half weeks, we'll be out of here and we'll miss professors like her."

"Soon you'll be saying we're gonna miss homework and tests," Gigi said with a snort.

"Well you never know," Lily said with a shrug. "Maybe-"

Gigi put her hand up to stop Lily from continuing on. "Do _not _finish that sentence. I don't need another reason to mock you."

"Well, you may wan-" Lily started but quickly turned her head to a tree across the schoolyard. "What was that?"

Kacie squinted. "I think something just fell out of that tree."

"Like a bird?" Gigi questioned, as a huge crowd surrounded the tree.

Kacie stood up on the bench. "Holy shit!" she cried out. "It's Sirius!"

Gigi jumped out of her seat. "What are you talking about?"

"I think it was Sirius who fell out of-" but Gigi never heard the end of her sentence because she was too busy sprinting across the lawn. Gigi scrambled through the crowd and made it to the tree. She stopped right in front of Sirius and turned to look at the three boys. "What the hell did you do?"

"He was climbing the tree and just fell," Remus said helplessly.

"The nurse is on her way," a voice from the crowd called out.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Gigi asked, Lily and Kacie finally arriving at her side.

The three boys just exchanged glances but weren't sure of what to say.

"_Well?_" Gigi shouted.

"This is the boy who swam in the Great Lake naked during the month of January and didn't get pneumonia, the boy who fell from a broom high up in the air and didn't even get a scratch, and the guy who falls down the stairs at least once a week and still somehow has all his brain cells," Remus said.

"Well that's debatable," James mumbled.

Remus smiled up at Gigi. "He'll be fine."

"Oh really?" Gigi exclaimed, getting off her knees. "You call lying there, hardly breathing, with no movement at all 'fine?'"

Remus paused and then looked up at her. "Yes?"

"What is _wrong _with you guys?" Gigi cried out, her fists starting to clench at her sides.

"Gigi," Lily said calmly, reaching for her arm to soothe her.

"No!" Gigi burst out, snatching her arm away. "These guys are imbeciles! Always getting in trouble and risking their lives! It's not funny, it's just plain _stupid!_"

"Gigi, we had nothing to do with it," Peter said slowly.

"Did you not _see _your supposed best friend climb like fifty feet into the air?" Gigi exclaimed. "You think playing stupid pranks and getting in trouble is fun. You think that the more your life is at risk, the more fun life is! You think-"

"Gigi," Lily urged, pulling her arm.

James looked calmly at Gigi and said, "We didn't think th-"

"_No_, you didn't think," Gigi cried out, seizing her arm out of Lily's grip and stomping off back towards Hogwarts.

Lily gave the boys a guilty look. "She'll be fine."

James gulped and looked down at a motionless Sirius. "So will he," he whispered hopefully.

* * *

Gigi stood outside the hospital wing pacing back and forth. She heard the laughter of Remus and Peter ring out from one of the hospital beds. She heard Lily and James asking the nurse questions about being unconscious and she heard Kacie translating the big medical words to the boys. She finally stopped pacing and leaned against the wall near the doorway. She took a big breath and turned to enter the hospital wing when she heard voices from the end of the hallway. 

"_Lucie?_" Gigi whispered to herself as Lucie and a few of her friends neared the doorway.

"Is he okay?" a girl with a pile of make up on asked.

Gigi was surprised when she realized the girl was talking to her. "How the hell should I know?"

"Because you're standing outside of a hospital wing that only has one person in it," another girl said. "My guess is you're not here to visit the nurse."

"She happens to be a very good friend of mine," Gigi snapped.

"C'mon Julee, Hailey," Lucie said monotonously, glaring at Gigi. "Let's go."

Gigi watched them enter the room until she blurted out, "he's not awake."

The three girls twirled around and looked at Gigi. "We know. We were outside when he fell."

"What are you doing here?" Gigi asked Lucie, ignoring what Hailey was saying.

"What are _you _doing here?" Lucie repeated. "I thought you hated Sirius."

"Isn't he like your public enemy number one?" Julee asked.

Gigi didn't say anything and instead listened to Dumbledore's voice booming from the hospital wing.

"You probably pushed him out of that tree," Hailey snickered.

Gigi faced Hailey and pinned her against the wall. "I may hate Sirius Black and I may think he needs to grow up and get a life. And I may think that he's a no good cheating lying player-"

"No really, tell us how you truly feel," Lucie mumbled, rolling her eyes.

Gigi wiped away the tear that fell from her eyes and turned away from the girls, letting go of Hailey. "I may hate the guy but that doesn't mean I wanted him to fall from a tree, Lucie," she said, swallowing the lump in her throat. "I hafta go," she whispered, practically running down the stairs and out of the hospital wing.

Lily glanced over at Gigi who was blankly staring in front of her. Lily gazed over at Kacie who was vigorously taking notes on parchment. Lily turned to look at Peter, James, and Remus who were (for the most part) also moving their hands a mile a minute, trying to keep up with what the professor was saying. She laughed as she watched Remus and James play a side game of tic-tac-toe.

"Psst," Lily hissed at Gigi.

Gigi shook her head out of her trance and glanced at Lily. "Huh?"

"You haven't taken any notes on what potions we're supposed to be making today," Lily mumbled under her breath.

Gigi glanced down at her blank parchment and shrugged. "Good thing I have you."

"I'm not your potions partner today," Lily whispered.

Gigi groaned and placed her head down on the table, banging it a little bit.

Lily took Gigi's head and brought it back up. "Losing brain cells isn't gonna help."

"Shh," Kacie hissed, still attempting to write everything down. Kacie groaned as the professor stopped giving instructions and told them to start their potions. "Okay, was the last thing she said an eye of newt or a toe of a toad?"

"Neither," Remus said, leaning back. "She said finger of hippopotamus."

"Did not," James corrected. "She said tooth of shark."

"We don't have _any _of those ingredients," Lily argued.

"Okay…what body parts of animals _do_ we have?" James asked.

"Claw of cat," Lily said.

"Okay, we'll use that," Kacie decided.

"We are _so _gonna fail," Remus whined, banging his head against the table once.

"So did you guys visit Si in the hospital this morning?" Lily wondered. Gigi's ears perked up but she started flipping through her potions book to make it look like she wasn't paying attention.

"Yeah," James said. "He still hasn't woken up."

"Any news on how he's doing?" Kacie wondered.

"He's stable," Remus said with a shrug. "But he hit his head pretty hard and landed on his spine."

"How far up in the tree was he?" Lily asked.

"He must have been at least thirty feet up," Remus noted. "But he'll be fine. Madame Jeckel is doing everything she can to get him to regain consciousness."

Lily and Kacie nodded in appreciation of the information and the boys turned back around. A few seconds later James turned back around. "What are we supposed to be doing?"

Gigi looked up from her book. "Something to do with the claw of a cat."

The group all exchanged looks and burst out laughing. Even Gigi cracked a smile, trying to ignore how aggravated she was with the boys.

* * *

"So then McGonagall told me to go to hell!" James exclaimed, a few days later. 

Remus, Gigi, Kacie, and Lily all gave him a blank look.

"Okay, maybe she told me that there are no legitimate excuses for forgetting my homework," James said. "But it's practically the same thing."

"You told her that your hamster ate your homework?" Remus clarified.

"Yeah, what's so wrong with that?" James asked.

"You don't _own _a hamster," Lily argued.

"And a hamster could hardly swallow a corn flake, let alone an entire piece of parchment," Kacie added.

"No _wonder _she told me to go to hell," James claimed.

"She didn't!" Remus cried out.

"Oh yeah," James said slowly.

"Well at least you're serving detention with someone you know," Lily said with a shrug. "Gigi has detention on Saturday also."

"What?" Gigi said, snapping out of her trance.

"Are you okay?" Lily asked. "You haven't said a word for about an hour now."

"I'm fine," Gigi muttered.

"Look Gigi, we-" Remus started.

"I'm not talking to you," Gigi snapped.

"For the last time, it wasn't our fault!" James cried out.

"I don't get you guys!" Gigi cried out, jumping up from the couch. "You're sitting here joking and talking about classes while your best friend is unconscious in the damn hospital wing!"

"What about _you_?" James asked. "When's the last time _you _visited Sirius?"

"I don't give a damn about Sirius," Gigi argued.

"Then why the hell are you getting so mean and defensive about him?" James asked. "If, as you supposedly say, don't give a damn about him, then why the hell don't you get off our backs and leave us the fuck alone about Si?"

"James!" Lily hissed.

"No, it's fine," Gigi said icily and then turned to James. "You are _just _like Sirius. Neither one of you care about anyone but yourself and-"

"Gi, just becau-" Remus started.

"Just forget it," Gigi exclaimed through gritted teeth. She started to stomp off when she heard a familiar voice running through the portrait hole.

"Hey guys!" Peter exclaimed, rushing into the room. "Sirius is awake!"

Everyone gazed over at Gigi who glanced around at them. With one more glance, she turned around and walked up the stairs to her room.

_So, is Gigi going to visit Sirius in the hospital wing now that he's awake? Is Sirius gonna realize what happened? Is he going to find out that Gigi hasn't visited him once? Is Gigi going to forgive the guys for being careless? _

_Review to find out the answers to these questions!!_


	37. Penelope, Flying Unicorn, & Leo Gilbert

**_Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 37_**

_thanks to everyone who reviewed!! I really appreciate it! For all of those who are asking: I am only writing this story until graduation (meaning only a little over a week left!) This probably means only three or four chapters more. ONLY 224 DAYS TIL THE FIFTH MOVIE COMES OUT! and only...awhile til the seventh book comes out! haha _

Disclaimer: PLEASE tell me you know that I'm not JK Rowling. how many of these disclaimers have you read by now?

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Sirius!" Lily cried out, running into the hospital and giving him a hug, the rest of their friends close behind. Lily hit him across the head. "You're an idiot!"

"Ow!" Sirius burst out. "In the hospital here! Bandage on head!"

"Oops…did that hurt?" Lily asked.

"Nope, 'ow' is code word for 'do it again,'" Sirius said, rolling his eyes.

"Hey man," James said, high fiving Sirius. "I'm going with Lily on this one. You're a moron."

"That's not what you said in this card," Sirius said, pointing to a card and chocolate frogs on his nightstand.

"I'm a little afraid to ask what you _did _say in the card," Remus said to James while giving Sirius a friendly pat.

"I'm with you on that one," Lily said with a laugh.

"So, you wanna play exploding snaps?" James asked.

"Calm down James. He just woke up. Let him breathe a little," Remus pointed out.

"But I miss having someone that I can actually beat," James said with a pout.

"That's not fair," Sirius said. "I was unconscious for awhile. I just woke up from a bad head injury."

"And what are your excuses for the past six years?" Remus asked with a smirk.

Sirius threw a pillow at Remus as he laughed along with the rest of the group. Kacie and Peter sat on the edge of Sirius's bed while Remus and James sat on the bed beside him. Sirius glanced around the room and then smiled weakly up at his friends. And then Sirius sighed, feeling that a big part of him was missing.

James and Lily exchanged glances, watching Sirius gaze around the room with an upset look on his face. "She's really busy," James said nervously.

Sirius gazed up at him. "What?"

"Gigi," James responded. "She's extremely busy."

"Oh right," Sirius said with a shrug. "Whatever. I don't care."

"But guess who visited you the other day," Peter said, trying to change the subject.

"The Queen of England? The Pope?" Sirius asked and then gasped. "_God?_"

"God??" everyone questioned.

"Oh right, that couldn't be it," Sirius said. "Because _I'm_ God."

"Okay, who wants to let Sirius into the _real _world?" Kacie joked.

Sirius laughed as he turned back to Peter. "So who visited me?"

"Lucie."

"And her friend Hailey," Kacie added.

"Lucie visited _me?_" Sirius exclaimed, sitting up in the hospital bed. "Wow, who would have ever thought."

"I think it was Hailey who really wanted to visit you," Remus pointed out. "Apparently she's the only girl at Hogwarts who hasn't had sex with you."

"Hardy har har," Sirius said, sticking his tongue out.

"How mature," Remus said, rolling his eyes.

"I can be mature!" Sirius exclaimed and then muttered a simple, "Dumbbutt."

"How's that mature thing working out for you?" Lily said with a smirk. Sirius took one of his chocolate frogs and threw it at her.

"I'm in the hospital wing; you're supposed to be nice to me," Sirius pointed out.

"I don't think that's required," Lily said. "No where in the Hogwarts handbook does it say that we have to be nice to people in the hospital."

Sirius pouted. "But it's common courtesy!" The groups laughed together as they each took a little piece of the chocolate frog.

"So you've been unconscious for about a week now," Kacie said.

Sirius sat straight up. "Oh my god! I missed so many classes! And homework! And-" Sirius burst out laughing. "Yeah, I knew I couldn't get through that with a straight face."

Sirius glanced at the presents and cards on the table by his bed. He sighed and then looked at the rest of his friends and smiled a little. "So…besides Lucie, who else visited?"

His friends all exchanged quick glances and then looked at Sirius. "She's had a lot going on Sirius," Remus said nervously.

Sirius crossed his arms across her chest. "I don't know who you're talking about."

"She's had a lot of detentions," Lily pointed out. "I haven't even seen her for a few days."

"Wasn't she hanging out with you guys before I came into the common room?" Peter asked.

James looked at him. "You are a bloody moron."

"Look guys, I don't care, okay?" Sirius said, getting aggravated. "I wouldn't want her to visit me anyway."

"So how's that going?" Remus asked.

"How's what going?"

"This denial thing," Remus said.

Sirius pouted and plopped back against his pillows. "It sucks."

Sirius turned his head to look at all the flowers, candy, and cards from his friends wishing to see only one thing: a gift from Gigi. It didn't even have to be an extravagant gift; even a card or something small would be fine. She didn't even _visit_. _Lucie_ visited but the girl he loved more than anything couldn't be bothered to just enter the room. What's worse is that his friends were making excuses for her when it was obvious the only reason she didn't want to visit was that she didn't want to.

* * *

For the fifth time in five days, Gigi stood outside the hospital wing door debating whether or not to go in. She overheard Lily talking to Kacie this morning about Sirius and how he's been awake for five days now and he still had two more days until he could get out.

Gigi started pacing back and forth, not daring to walk in front of the door in case Sirius or anyone else saw her. Gigi sighed and peaked her head out a little and gazed at Sirius in his hospital bed.

"That is a _very _nice skirt you're wearing, Madame Jenkel," Sirius said, flashing her a grin.

"You're not getting out of here til Sunday," Jenkel answered.

"Damnit!" Sirius swore under his breath. "But I've been such a good boy!"

"You took all my plastic gloves and made them into hand puppets," the nurse noted.

Sirius paused. "But that puppet show was entertaining for all!"

"Sit back Mr. Black," Madame Jenkel said, but there was a hint of a smile creeping up on her face.

"Can I ask for one small favor?"

Jenkel looked up from what she was doing and glanced his direction.

"Can I have a firewhiskey?"

"_What?_"

"I mean water," Sirius said quickly.

"I think I want you out of here more than _you_ want out," the nurse claimed, handing Sirius a cup of water.

"You know you'll miss me when I'm gone," Sirius said with a smile.

Madame Jenkel didn't say anything back but Sirius smiled wider as he noticed a grin appear on her face. Sirius took a sip of water and leaned back against his pillows.

"Hey Gigi," Lily said, coming up the hospital wing stairs, making Gigi jump a mile.

"AGH!" Gigi cried out. "What the hell are you trying to do? Give me a heart attack?"

"Good thing we're standing in the hospital wing," Lily said with a smile. "So what are you doing?"

"Nothing," Gigi said really quickly.

Lily raised her eyebrows. "Why don't you just go in and see him?"

"I'm not here to see Sirius," Gigi argued.

"Bullshit."

"For your information, I'm here to see how Penelope is," Gigi said. "I heard she fell hard off her broom."

"What is Penelope's last name?" Lily asked with a smirk.

Gigi opened her mouth to answer but closed it after much hesitation. "That is _so _not the point!"

"What year is she in?" Lily added.

"I know it's between first and seventh year," Gigi muttered.

"What house is she in?" Lily continued.

"Okay! I get your point," Gigi cried out. Gigi took one more glance at the hospital wing door and then sighed. "I'm leaving now."

"Where are you going?" Lily called out after her.

"To buy Penelope a get-well-soon card!" Gigi shouted over her shoulder while darting down the stairs.

Lily sighed and shook her head disappointingly. With a glance at the empty stairs, she entered the hospital wing. "Hey Si."

"Thank god!" Sirius cried out. "Get me out of here!"

"Sit _back _Mr. Black!" the nurse cried out.

"I wrote my plans for an escape on this napkin," Sirius whispered to Lily, eyeing the nurse out of the corner of his eye. "Although we're gonna need a few gallons of blue paint and a flying unicorn."

Lily just stared at him.

"Yeah…time for a new plan," Sirius said, throwing the bunched up napkin in the wastebasket. "If I could get out of here now, I'd even do homework."

Lily gave him another look.

"Wait, no! I didn't say that! That doesn't count," Sirius said quickly.

Lily threw her head back and laughed. "So…not doing so well?"

"I need to get out and play a prank and play Quidditch and drink lots of firewhiskey-"

Madame Jenkel cleared her throat.

"I mean water!" Sirius exclaimed to her. Sirius grinned and then turned back to Lily. "So…how are you? And everyone else?"

Lily rolled her eyes at his lame attempt to find out how Gigi was doing. "She's wanted to visit, Sirius."

"Right," Sirius mumbled, obviously not believing Lily.

"She's just had a lot going on," Lily said with a shrug.

"That is total bullshit!" Sirius exclaimed. "If she supposedly wanted to visit me, she'd walk up those damn steps and come say hi. Stop making fucking excuses for her, okay??"

"She has walked up those stairs every day since you've been in here and stood outside the doorway," Lily said. "And every time, she has talked herself out of coming in here and walked back _down _those stairs."

Sirius sighed. "But why? Why doesn't she just come in?"

"Because of everything you've said to her," Lily said. "_You _broke up with _her_. She doesn't think you want her to come. And no matter how much we tell her that it's no big deal to just come say hi, she can never get enough courage to walk in here."

"Who said I wanted to her come?" Sirius asked grumpily.

Lily gave him a look.

"Whatever," Sirius muttered. "Only two more weeks of Hogwarts and then it won't matter. And I'm still stuck in the hospital for another two days…what a nice way to spend my last few weeks here."

Lily hesitated. "What if we got a flying horse instead?"

Sirius grinned and grabbed another napkin to write on.

* * *

"I'm _free!!_" Sirius exclaimed, dancing down the stairs.

"If you fall and end up back in the hospital, don't judge me when I laugh my head off," James called out after Sirius.

"I can stand! I can run! I'm free!" Sirius exclaimed. He paused at the bottom of the stairs. "So…what do you wanna do now that I have this newfound freedom?"

"We have class," Remus reminded.

Sirius pouted. "I'm going back."

"C'mon, it'll be fun," Lily urged. "McGonagall has missed you."

"Really?" Sirius asked with a grin.

"Well I think her exact words were 'class is a lot easier to get through without Mr. Black,'" Kacie noted. "But if you take the underlying message, she definitely missed you."

"You get 'I miss you' from 'it's a lot quieter and less disruptive without Sirius?'" Sirius questioned.

Kacie paused. "Yeah…maybe you should go back."

"It won't be that bad," Peter decided. "And it will definitely be a lot more fun with you there."

Sirius grinned. "Yep, because only I would take the whole class period to make an entire paper family out of parchment."

"And then proceed to put on a show with them as your actors," Remus said.

"And then come up with a complex plan to save them from McGonagall's office after she confiscates them," James added.

Sirius grinned. "Those were the good ol' days."

"That was just last month," Peter pointed out.

Sirius linked arms with James and Kacie. "Alright, let's go to Advanced Potions."

"You mean Advanced Transfiguration," Remus said.

Sirius shrugged. "It's all the same to me."

* * *

"Welcome back Mr. Black," Professor McGonagall said as the group walked through the door.

Sirius grinned and looked at his friends. "She _did _miss me."

"Don't push it," Professor McGonagall, not looking up from the parchment she was reading.

"Hi Sirius," Ronnie said, walking in behind the group.

The entire group turned around and the girls tried hard to disguise their irritation. Sirius waved and walked over to her. "Hey Ronnie. What's going on?"

"Oh you know," she said with a shrug. "Homework, dating, _not _falling out of trees."

Sirius threw his head back and laughed. "Well then you're definitely missing out."

Lily growled under her breath as she took a seat next to Kacie. "He's _flirting_," Lily hissed, hitting Kacie on the shoulder.

"Um…_ow_," Kacie said, rubbing her shoulder. "And yes, I can see he's flirting. All that medicine must have messed up his brain."

"No Kacie," Remus butt in. "Sirius has _always _been this way."

"Messed up in the head?" Kacie teased.

James and Peter laughed as they sat behind the girls and Remus propped himself up on the table. "He's just having a nice conversation. Give him a break; he's been waiting to get out of the hospital and mingle," James claimed.

"Well does he have to mingle with _that_?" Lily asked in disgust.

"_That _has a name," Peter said. "A sweet gorgeous na-"

"Oh shut up," Lily muttered. "You couldn't get Ronnie even if you paid her."

"Lily, that's awful!" Remus cried out.

"No, it's true," Peter said and then sighed. "I've tried."

"Do you think-" but before Kacie could finish her sentence, in walked Gigi.

Gigi grinned and waved at her friends and walked over, obviously not noticing Sirius in the corner talking to Ronnie. They all bit their lips, waiting for Gigi to become aware of Sirius flirting with a gorgeous girl, one that she was never fond of.

"Okay, so when you are practically running to make it to class on time and you tell a girl to get out of the way, how would _you _interpret that?" Gigi asked, sighing as she put her bag down and plopped into a seat beside Lily.

"That I should get out of the way?" James answered nervously.

"Exactly!" Gigi cried out, throwing her hands in the air. "Tell that to the girl who I pushed down the stairs."

"Gi!" Lily exclaimed.

"Oh I'm just kidding," Gigi said and then shrugged. "I just pushed her into a wall."

"The younger girls must be so happy that you will be gone in two weeks," Kacie said.

"Yeah, well they-" Gigi started but then froze as she heard a familiar giggly laugh come from the corner of the room. She slowly turned her head to see Sirius throw his head back and laugh at Ronnie's joke. She clenched her fists together a little and then slowly let them go. Gigi took a deep breath and then turned to her friends, acting as if nothing was wrong. "So…what's for dinner?"

The others exchanged worried glances. "Um…it's eleven in the morning."

"Oh," Gigi said and then shrugged it off. "I meant lunch. What's for lunch?"

"How should we know?" Remus asked with a shrug. "Do we ever know the meals before they're placed in front of us?"

Gigi paused. "Good point," she murmured. "I...uh…guess I'm just hungry."

They all exchanged another round of worried glances.

Sirius ignored Ronnie's voice as he turned and saw Gigi turn to talk to Remus, her hair falling across her face and onto her shoulder. Sirius kept glancing at her from the corner of his eye while Ronnie started rambling about make-up…or maybe she was talking about clothes…or maybe, okay so he had no idea what she was talking about. Sirius turned back and tried paying attention to Ronnie but he couldn't help but glance over at Gigi conversing with his friends.

Both Gigi and Sirius glimpsed up and caught each other's eye. After a moment, Gigi turned her head away and attempted to listen to Lily talk about something before Professor McGonagall started class. Sirius gazed over at the empty chair beside James, right behind Gigi, originally where he was planning on sitting. He sighed and took a seat next to Ronnie.

* * *

Gigi paced back and forth while Lily and Kacie stayed calm, lying down on Kacie's bed.

"How could you _not _tell me?" Gigi exclaimed, stopping long enough to wave a finger at her two best friends.

"We didn't think it would matter," Kacie explained.

"How could it _not _matter??" Gigi cried out as she started to pace faster.

"You haven't visited him _once _since he's been in the hospital and you've hardly talked about him since the break up," Lily pointed out, trying not to look as annoyed as she was with Gigi's continual complaints with Sirius' life. "You've kinda made it apparent that you don't want to hear about him and you basically don't want anything to do with him."

"Yeah and I don't want him walking around Hogwarts!" Gigi claimed.

"You just hoped he'd stay in the hospital wing til graduation?" Lily asked.

"No," Gigi said. "I hoped he'd stay in the hospital wing _through _graduation."

"He had to get out at some point," Kacie said, popping a few M&M's into her mouth.

"But why _now?_" Gigi whined, plopping face up onto her bed and sighing up at the ceiling. "When things were getting so great!"

"What was getting so great?"

"I finally matched my outfit to my nail polish," Gigi pointed out.

"Wow," Lily said sarcastically. "Why go on living now that you have reached your top goal?"

"Okay, stop mocking me while I'm feeling sorry for myself," Gigi moaned, hitting her head against her pillow a few times.

Lily sat up on the bed and faced Gigi and tried sympathizing. "Okay, here's what we're gonna do."

"Mope and eat lots of chocolate?" Gigi asked.

"Hmm, good option," Lily said, "but no."

"Strip club!" Kacie cried out.

"We're not the Marauders," Lily said in disgust and then turned back to Gigi. "We're gonna forgot about Sirius, grab some snacks from the kitchen, get out a few stupid board games, and reminisce about the times when we played in sandboxes and on the swings."

"When we could get rid of boys by telling them we had cooties," Gigi said with a laugh.

"Or just hit them with a shovel and pail," Kacie joked.

Gigi sat up and looked at her best friends. "Alright fine, let's get out Twister."

Lily grinned from ear to ear. "That's the spirit!"

"But while you're down at the kitchens, can you pick up some form of alcohol?" Gigi asked.

Lily smiled. "I'll see what I can do."

"Leo Gilbert," Kacie muttered.

Gigi and Lily exchanged glances and then looked over at him. "Huh?"

"He was the boy I threw a shovel at back when I was five," Kacie said.

"You sure he didn't hit _you _with a shovel?" Gigi asked. "Because that would explain a lot."

Kacie threw a pillow at her and laughed along with Lily and Gigi as the pillow hit Gigi square in the face.

* * *

"Why couldn't you _warn _me??" Sirius cried out.

"Warn you that Gigi would be in the same Transfiguration class that she has _always _been in with you?" James asked.

Sirius waved his pointer finger violently at James. "Are you mocking me?"

"I'd say yes but I'm afraid that you'll change the finger that you're pointing at me," James said with a laugh.

"I saw her and I wanted to throw a desk at her," Sirius sighed, "at the same time that I wanted to go up to her and give her a hug."

"A hug?" Remus asked with raised eyebrows.

"Well what I _really _wanted to do would not have been appropriate in the classroom," Sirius said.

"Since when has that stopped you?" Peter asked.

"I just…I just…" Sirius trailed off and sighed. "I just wish this wasn't so hard."

"Yeah I know what you mean," James said. "It's very hard to pick up a heavy desk and throw it at someone."

"You're not getting my point!" Sirius cried out.

"Maybe a chair," James said. "Try throwing a chair instead."

"Is there a way to shut that thing off?" Sirius asked Remus, pointing at James.

"I've tried with very little success," Remus admitted with a laugh. "So if you ever come up with something, please inform me."

"You know, I _was _going to try to help you, Sirius, but forget that," James pouted.

The others stared at him waiting for more but James sat there in silence, shrugging his shoulders.

"Omigod…we shut him up!" Remus said enthusiastically.

James scowled.

"Okay all this talk…well, all _Remus' _talk…is nice, but can we get back to my problem?" Sirius whined.

"You don't _have _a problem," James pointed out. "Gigi has always been there, remember? It was _you _who was gone for a week."

"Okay, I was in the hospital wing. Aren't you supposed to be more sympathetic?" Sirius whimpered.

"Sirius, it's hard to be sympathetic when you fell out of a _tree_," Remus pointed out with a snicker.

Sirius pouted and flopped on to his bed with a sigh. "What am I going to do?"

"Padfoot, I don't understand the problem," James sighed. "You were broken up with Gigi before you fell out of the tree. Nothing has changed."

"I know nothing has changed," Sirius murmured. "I guess I just…"

"Miss her?" Remus suggested.

Sirius' head jerked up in surprise. "_No_," he argued, not too sure if that were true or not. "I just hadn't seen her in a week so it was a little _surprising_."

"Funny, you thought the same thing about the _cereal_ this morning," Remus snickered.

"Yeah and you kissed the bowl," James snickered.

Sirius glared at him. "_Don't _get any ideas," he muttered. "Nothing has changed between me and Gigi. She still doesn't trust me."

"Sirius, maybe you're being a little too hard on yourself," James suggested.

"You don't think I deserve someone who _trusts _me??" Sirius questioned in frustration.

"Like who, _Ronnie_?" Remus laughed.

Sirius glared at him.

Remus shrugged. "You were happy with Gigi. Isn't that enough for now?"

Sirius bit his lip nervously, staring down at his hands for an answer. He let out a slow sigh and muttered, "I don't know."

"The point is," James said, "is that I think _she _was more surprised to see _you_. Not the other way around."

"Was that our point?" Sirius asked. "I thought our point was…" Sirius turned to Remus. "What was our point?"

"When we're talking about girls, we _never _have a point," Remus concluded.

Sirius sighed and stared up at the ceiling. "Let's forget about girls and move on to a different topic of conversation."

It was silent for a few moments until Peter spoke up, "So how hot was Ronnie today?"

Sirius groaned and hit his head against his pillow a few times as James and Remus snickered at Peter's comment.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

_hmm, so Gigi didn't visit Sirius in the hospital. is she going to regret it? is he going to be really upset that she didn't visit him? are they ever going to talk to each other again?  
__  
Review to find out!_


	38. Pasta, Doctors, and Pilfer & Muddle

**_Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 38_**

_sorry it took me soooo long to update...i just had final exams and got home late wednesday and it's been a hectic few weeks._

_disclaimer: i'm J.K. Rowling. haha i wish_

_OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo_

"Hey Lils," James said, walking into their common room.

Lily looked up from the piles of work sitting on her lap and smiled. "Hey hon."

"Whatcha doin?" James asked.

"Sailing to Australia," Lily said, rolling her eyes. She pointed to the books and parchment on her lap. "What do you _think _I'm doing?"

"Homework?" James suggested.

"Oh good, you _do _know what this is," Lily teased. She looked up at James standing in the corner of the room. "Why aren't _you _doing homework?"

"Do I ever?"

"Good point," Lily said with a smile. "School is over in less than two weeks and N.E.W.T.S. are coming up. We have to study, and finish all the work, and take copious amounts of notes and-"

"Only you would use the word 'copious' when you're freaking out," James said.

"I am _not _freaking out!" Lily cried out.

James smiled a little and rushed to his girlfriend's side. "You've got the top grades out of everyone at Hogwarts and you're incredibly smart and hardworking."

"Keep going," Lily said with a grin.

James kissed her on the forehead. "You'll do fine."

Lily's face turned serious and she looked up at James. "So, I have a question."

"Yes I _am _naturally this good looking," James joked.

Lily raised her eyebrows at him and ignored his comment. "What do you think is gonna happen to us?"

"Well, like every person in the world, we'll end up as worm food," James said.

"What?"

"We'll end up dead," James clarified, rolling his eyes.

"Could you _be_ any cruder?" Lily asked and then sighed. "And I didn't mean what's going to happen to us in the long run. I meant what's gonna happen when we graduate here."

"We'll get some sort of diploma and a hat with a really cool tassel," James said with a goofy grin. "I'm really looking forward to it."

"Can you _ever _be serious?" Lily wondered.

"No…but I can go get him," James teased.

Lily gave him a look.

James took Lily's hands in his own and looked sincerely in her eyes. "I don't know what's gonna happen with us but I know that no matter what I choose to do with my life, I want to do it with you."

Lily took a deep breath and looked down at her feet. "I want to go to a wizarding university." (A/N: Yes, I know those don't really exist but go along with it! just for the sake of my story)

"Well I think that's a great idea," James said excitedly, giving her a huge hug.

Lily smiled weakly at him. "But I don't know where."

James read her expression. "But you want to go somewhere in England, right?"

Lily shrugged. "Maybe…probably…I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" James asked.

"Look, it's not a big deal," Lily insisted. "I was merely wondering what our future looked like."

"We're only eighteen," James said. "Our future should look like lots of candy and plenty of pasta."

"We're not five," Lily said and then gave him a strange look. "And what the hell's with the pasta?"

"First thing I could think of," James said with a shrug. "It does sound good, doesn't it?"

Lily gave him a look.

James sighed. "Lily, why doesn't your future include me?"

"Are you kidding?" Lily burst out. "You're the most important thing in my life right now which is why I wanted to talk to you about this."

James sighed and then looked at his girlfriend. "I'm hungry…you want some pasta?"

Lily cracked a smile and hit him with a pillow. "We don't have to think about this now."

"Good…because it's making my head hurt," James said and then gave his girlfriend a warm smile. "And it will just make us upset."

Lily cracked another smile. "Too late," she muttered. Lily glanced around the empty room and threw her books on the floor. "You know what I just noticed?"

James grinned and kissed her on the lips. "You're gonna give up studying for hours to be with me?"

Lily laughed. "I know it's surprising."

James grinned and lightly pushed Lily against the couch and kissed her, massaging the inside of her mouth with his tongue. Lily unbuttoned James' shirt and flung it to the floor.

"Hey guys," Sirius said, popping into the room.

Lily and James scrambled up from the couch with a sigh. "Hi," they groaned.

Sirius looked at James's shirt on the floor and gave them a sheepish grin. "Oops…were you busy?"

"Yup," James said, glaring at Sirius.

Sirius shrugged. "Well now I'm here so we can have some fun, just the three of us." Sirius grinned and sat right between Lily and James on the couch.

Lily leaned back and looked at James. "We _really _need to get Sirius a girlfriend."

James thought about it. "What about Cristina Milano?"

"What about 'hell no,'" Lily said with a look of disgust. "That girl is a tramp."

"Sounds like my kind of girl," Sirius said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Ooh, what about Lyla Freed?" Lily suggested.

"Taken," James said.

"What?" Lily exclaimed. "By who?"

"Bennie Jeepers," James said. "But what about his ex girlfriend, Tarla?"

"Okay, I'm sitting _right _here," Sirius said. "And I don't want any girlfriend."

"Except Gigi," James muttered under his breath.

"What??" Sirius exclaimed.

"I said…I respect that," James said.

Lily smacked James over the head. "That doesn't even sound like what you really said."

"I _don't _want Gigi!" Sirius cried out for what seemed like the hundredth time.

"Yes you do," Lily insisted.

"Yes I do," Sirius whined, putting his head in his hands.

"You do?" Lily exclaimed, surprised that he admitted it.

"No," Sirius said quickly, picking his head up.

"He said he did," James said. "I heard it with my own two eyes."

"You mean your own two _ears, _you moron," Sirius said.

"Either way, I heard it," James said.

"Hey Lily, do you have my-" Gigi trailed off, as she walked into the common room and saw Sirius sitting there. "Nevermind."

"Wait Gi!" Lily cried out.

"BYE!" Gigi yelled over her shoulder.

Sirius sighed and then looked back and forth from James to Lily. "I need a girlfriend."

James pointed to where Gigi just left. "You want _that _girlfriend."

Sirius sighed and plopped his head against the back of the couch, not bothering to argue with James...because he knew that James was right. Lily and James exchanged knowingly looks and sighed, glancing at an upset-looking Sirius.

* * *

"Okay, what about the girl sitting by the birch tree?" Peter asked. "Black hair, red skirt." 

"No way!" James cried out. "The girl sitting on the bench is way hotter."

"Which one?" Sirius asked.

"Redhead with the purple tank top," James said.

"Whoa, new competition," Sirius said with a low whistle. "Check out Mandie Hemington."

"You guys are pigs," Remus muttered and then glanced up from his Potions book. "Holy shit! Check out the blonde by the lake."

All four boys jerked their heads in the direction of the lake and grinned. "Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner," Sirius cried out with a smirk.

"Okay, so I have a question," James said.

"No James, she is _not _a natural blonde," Remus said with a grin.

James rolled his eyes and lay down on his stomach, resting his chin in his hands. "What are you guys planning on doing after graduation?"

"Drinking a lot," Sirius said.

"No, I mean with the rest of your life," James reworded.

"Drinking a lot," Sirius repeated.

James threw some grass in Sirius's face and stared up at Remus. "What about you?"

"Well I'm going to be spending most of my time howling at the moon," Remus said and then glanced up at James, "so my future is pretty busy."

"Lily wants to go to a University," James mentioned.

"That's no surprise," Peter said.

"Whew," Sirius said with a whistle. "Check out the brunette over by the fountain."

Peter, James, and Remus all stared up at him.

"Oh…have we moved on to a new topic of conversation?" Sirius asked with a sheepish grin.

"Just forget it," James said with a shrug. "I was merely wondering."

"Why are you asking?" Remus wondered.

James glanced at his friends and shrugged again. "Because Lily and I were talking about it the other day and it made me think."

"Well it's about time someone got you to think," Peter teased. "…did it hurt?"

James threw a rock in Peter's direction. "Did _that _hurt?"

Peter laughed and threw some grass at James.

James cracked a smile as the rest of his friends threw their heads back and laughed. "Lily wants to go to a University. And it made me realize that I haven't given any thought to what I want to do after Hogwarts."

"Is partying for the rest of my life an option for the future?" Sirius asked.

"Of course," Remus said. "But it wouldn't be a very long future."

James gazed out into the distance and looked at his girlfriend quietly reading her potions book under a tree on the other side of the grounds. He sighed and turned back to his friends. "It doesn't matter. Like I said, I was just wondering."

Sirius, Remus, and Peter all exchanged worried glances. "It does matter though, doesn't it," Remus hinted.

James lay on his stomach, leaning on his elbows. "I just can't believe we're out of this place in less than two weeks."

"And I can't believe that Sirius has yet to open a book for the upcoming exams," Remus pointed out.

"I still have time," Sirius said with a shrug.

"The first exam is in two days," Peter noted.

"Oh," Sirius said and then was silent for a few seconds. "So, who wants snacks?"

"You're worried about food when I just told you we have an exam soon?" Remus asked.

"When I'm stressed out, I eat," Sirius said with a shrug.

"That must mean that you're stressed out every minute of every day," James snickered.

Sirius stuck his tongue out at James and got up from the ground. "I'm getting some cookies."

The other three shrugged but dove into a conversation about Quidditch.

Sirius walked across the grounds as his stomach growled, feeling happy that he was about to get some food. He smiled and waved at Lily who waved back but then stuck her nose back into her book and started taking notes vigorously. Sirius laughed at her freaking out about the exams.

Sirius flashed a smile at a few girls who were looking his way and entered Hogwarts…just in time to walk into Gigi.

"Oh," Gigi said, surprised to see him.

"Hi," was all Sirius could think of to say.

Gigi looked up at him awkwardly and then walked around him and out of Hogwarts.

Sirius stood there helplessly as she just walked away from him. He wanted to keep walking away but at the same time, he wanted to talk to her. Before he could stop himself, Sirius called out, "So I'm not important to you?"

Gigi turned around with a confused look on her face. "Huh?"

"Nothing," Sirius said quickly.

"No, really, what's that supposed to mean?" Gigi asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"Forget it," Sirius snapped.

"Obviously it meant _something_," Gigi snapped back, getting aggravated with his attitude.

"I was in the hospital for god sake!" Sirius cried out, surprised at himself for getting so angry.

Gigi waited for him to continue but he stopped there. "Yeah…" Gigi asked in the form of a question.

Sirius sighed harshly. "You didn't visit me once. You didn't send anything. You didn't even make an effort to find out if I was okay."

"What makes you think I didn't make an effort?" Gigi asked, taking a few steps towards him.

"Did I see you? Did I see something from you? Did I hear from you at all??" Sirius asked angrily.

"Just because you didn't see me doesn't mean I didn't care," Gigi argued.

"Oh really? So studying for exams and eating meals means you're caring for me?" Sirius sniped.

"No! But waiting outside the hospital for two to three hours every fucking day does!" Gigi burst out. "Not sleeping at all because all I could think about was whether or not you were okay means I care! Getting Lily and Kacie to check up on you every five minutes just to let me know how you were doing means I care for you!"

Sirius hesitated and then looked up at her. "You really did that?"

"No," Gigi said really quickly. Sirius gave her a look. Gigi shrugged. "We may have broken up but that doesn't mean that I wanted you to die."

Sirius snorted. "I wasn't gonna die."

"Well how was I supposed to know that?" Gigi asked irritably.

"Maybe if you actually came _in_, you would have known that," Sirius argued.

"You were in a fucking _coma_ Sirius! Not a whole lot of people get out of those as quickly as you did…or at all," Gigi cried out. "So ex_cuse _me if I thought that maybe _just _maybe, you weren't gonna make it."

Sirius was silent for a few seconds and then looked up at her, shifting his weight a little bit. He couldn't help noticing just how gorgeous she was when she looked vulnerable. "Why didn't you just come in to see me?" Sirius asked.

Gigi shrugged and refused to answer that question.

Sirius took a step towards her. "Well?"

"Because," Gigi answered, her voice breaking up.

"Because isn't a real answer," Sirius said slowly.

Gigi shrugged. "You broke up with me," Gigi mumbled. She didn't dare stare at Sirius and instead concentrated hard on her shoes. With a quiet weak voice she added, "I wasn't sure if you wanted me there or not."

After it was quiet for a few seconds, Gigi finally looked up at Sirius who was staring at her but wasn't saying anything. Gigi's face was getting hot with nervousness so she started to walk away until she heard Sirius come out with, "I wanted you there."

Gigi turned to look at Sirius. "But what about-"

"I don't know," Sirius cut her off.

"Okay, but you said-"

"I know," Sirius said.

"And what about when you said-"

"I don't know," Sirius interrupted.

Gigi thought about it for a few seconds. "Well, what _do _you know?"

Sirius paused and looked at Gigi who was shifting her weight a lot and fidgeting in place. He smiled and took a few steps towards her. "That I want to do this," Sirius whispered and then lowered his lips and placed them on hers.

As they broke apart, Gigi smiled about the short but sweet kiss. "So, what does this mean?" She was almost afraid to ask.

Sirius grinned. "That talking is obviously not our strong suit," he said with a small laugh. Gigi laughed along with him and stood up on her tippy toes to give Sirius another kiss.

* * *

Sirius couldn't erase the smile off his face as he entered his room a few hours later, after spending the afternoon with his girlfriend. He smiled wider as he said the word "girlfriend" in his head. 

James, Remus, and Peter glanced up from their books as Sirius entered the room. "What's with the goofy grin?" James asked, engrossing himself back into his books. Peter and Remus took a quick look at Sirius's grin and also went back to reading their books.

"It's nothing," Sirius said, looking around and noticing that no one was really listening to him. "I just got back from hanging out with my girlfriend."

"Oh," James said distractedly. "Cool."

Sirius waited a few seconds for any other reactions but they were all too busy taking notes and reading vigorously. He shrugged and then walked out of the room.

"I don't understand. What do you get when you mix dragon skin and that weird purple stuff?" Peter asked.

"Did Sirius just say he has a _girlfriend??_" James cried out. All three of them exchanged glances and then raced out of the room, following Sirius.

"Sirius!" Remus cried out, catching him as he was about to walk into the common room.

Sirius glanced down at his watch. "Forty-five seconds…now _that's _a record."

"Who the hell is your girlfriend?" James asked.

"_When _did you get a girlfriend?" Remus questioned.

"And most importantly, what happens when you mix dragon skin and that transparent purple stuff??" Peter asked.

Sirius, James, and Remus all gave him blank stares.

Peter shrugged. "It's on the exam tomorrow."

"Who _cares _about the exam," Remus said. Sirius, James, and Peter all looked at him with shock in their eyes. "Wow…I _really _need to stop hanging out with Sirius."

Sirius grinned. "Yeah…but it's seven years too late for that."

"So, tell us!" James urged. "Who's the girl?"

"Who do you think?" Sirius asked with a smile.

"Lucie," Peter started. "Hannah! That hot redhead from Potions class!"

"You suck at guessing," James said, rolling his eyes. He turned to Sirius. "It's _definitely _Maria from the Ravenclaw Quidditch team."

"You suck at guessing too," Sirius muttered.

"You guys are dolts," Remus said. "He's referring to Gigi."

Peter and James looked at Remus and burst out laughing. "You need to get your head examined."

"_His _head is just fine," Sirius said.

Peter and James turned to Sirius and then put their hands to their mouths in realization. "_Gigi?_ You mean you guys are _together? _…again?" James asked.

"What can I say?" Sirius said with a shrug. "When she saw me, she tackled me to the ground and started making out with me."

The three boys gave him a look.

"Okay…so maybe that's not _quite _what happened," Sirius said. "But it's pretty close."

"Lemme guess," Remus said. "You guys walk into each other by accident. You get upset because she didn't visit you in the hospital and then you both realized how stupid you were being by breaking up."

Sirius's mouth hung wide open. "Were you there?"

"No," Remus pointed out. "It's just obvious."

Sirius pointed in the direction of Peter and James who both had blank stares on their faces. "Not to them."

"Yeah, but they're not the sharpest tools in the shed," Remus said.

James opened his mouth to protest and then closed it. "I'd argue that…but it's pretty much true."

"Pretty much?" Sirius snickered.

"Watch it," James warned. "You're in that shed with me and Peter."

"So have you fucked her yet?" Remus questioned.

James, Sirius, and Peter all hung their mouths open wide.

"What?" Remus asked. "It's a perfect legitimate question."

"Yeah, from _Sirius_," James answered. "A perfect legitimate question from you is what's the Ancient Ruins homework."

"I'm not in Ancient Ruins," Remus pointed out.

"Therefore making it an _ill_egitimate question," Sirius said.

"Oh never mind," James said. "Just answer Remus' question. Have you guys had sex yet?"

"The answer is no," Sirius said with a shrug.

"Losing your touch?" Peter asked.

"No," Sirius said, rolling his eyes.

"Afraid to?" James asked.

"No!"

"Only have sex when you're drunk?" Remus asked.

"No," Sirius said and then paused. "Well usually, yes…"

Sirius sighed and sat down on the stairs. "It's just different with Gigi. It's a sensitive subject."

"Because you had sex with her and then had sex with another girl a few hours afterwards?" James asked.

"It was _way _more than a few hours!" Sirius argued and then sighed. "And yes."

"Oh c'mon," Peter said. "She's had sex with half the boy population at this school. You've had sex with the whole _girl _population at this school. Is it really that hard for you and Gigi?"

"I care for Gigi," Sirius said. "A lot. I'm not just going to jump at her the first chance I get."

"Why?" James asked. "It worked for me and Lily." James laughed at his playful remark and the boys joined in.

Sirius shrugged. "I'll just wait til she's ready. And believe me, I'm sure she wants to wait considering what happened the first time."

* * *

"Why won't he have sex with me?" Gigi whined, plopping down on Kacie's bed. 

Kacie looked up. "Who?"

"Sirius," Gigi said.

Kacie and Lily exchanged glances. "I thought you hated Sirius."

Gigi sat up. "Oh yeah. I ran into him, we talked, we made out, and now we're dating again."

"_What??_" the girls exclaimed.

"Okay, so anyway," Gigi started.

"No! Not anyway. Anyway means we're moving onto a different topic," Kacie said.

Gigi sighed. "You guys knew I was miserable without him. Did you guys _really _think we weren't gonna get back together?"

"No," Lily said. "But _you _did."

Gigi paused for a few seconds. "I know," she whispered under her breath. "But now we're back together and in good time considering we're leaving soon and I probably would have never seen him again, so all is right with the world."

"You still mad at the guys?" Kacie asked.

"Stop ruining the moment," Gigi muttered.

"And have you studied for your two exams tomorrow?" Lily wondered.

"Why don't I just call you two thunder and lightening?" Gigi murmured with a hint of a smile.

Kacie and Lily laughed. Lily looked at Gigi's grin and closed her book. "Well I'm happy for you two. It's about time you two put your stubbornness behind you and got back together."

"This coming from the girl who didn't get back together with James til like two months after you guys broke up," Gigi said.

"_So _not the point," Lily argued.

"I guess that leaves either Remus or Peter for me," Kacie said teasingly.

Lily and Gigi exchanged looks. "Go with Remus."

Kacie threw her head back and laughed. "Nah, I'm gonna go out into the real world, find a doctor, marry him, and then have lots and lots of money."

"You already have your future planned out?" Lily questioned.

"And you're basing it around lots and lots of money?" Gigi wondered, raising her eyes.

"When you're married to Sirius and living in a box…don't come crying to me," Kacie teased with a laugh.

Gigi thought about it. "So…where can I get me one of these doctors?"

"It sure as hell won't be Sirius," Lily muttered. All three girls exchanged glances and then burst into a fit of giggles.

* * *

"I don't think I knew _one _of those answers," Sirius cried out, walking out of the Great Hall after his final Potions exam. 

"I don't think I knew one of those _words_," Peter said. "What the hell is to pilfer?"

"I don't know, what the hell does muddle up mean?" Sirius wondered.

"Oh, who the hell is gonna use potions in the real world anyway?" James said, throwing his arms up.

"A Potions professor?" Remus suggested.

"Well then we know what profession _I _won't be having," Sirius said.

"Anything successful?" James said.

"Ex_actly_," Sirius said and then paused. "Wait…what?"

"It's a good thing you're good looking," Peter said. "At least we know you'll marry well."

"And hopefully it'll be for money," Remus said with a laugh. "…or you're screwed."

The four boys continued walking as they laughed about random teenager things.

"Dude," Sirius whispered, slowing down. "Totally hot chick at 10 o'clock."

"Dude," James hissed back. "Totally hot _girlfriend _at 3 o'clock."

Sirius glanced over. "That's more like 3:15."

James stared at him. "That doesn't even make _sense._"

"So, you think my girlfriend is hot, huh?" Sirius asked in a teasing manner.

"Whose girlfriend is hot?" Gigi asked, coming up and putting her arm around Sirius.

"James' girlfriend," Lily answered immediately with a wink.

"So, who else sat in that room doing absolutely nothing for that entire time period," Kacie asked.

"Me," James, Sirius, Peter, and Gigi responded.

"I thought the exam was kind of easy," Lily said with a shrug.

"Except for question thirteen," Remus said.

"Yeah, I know! What kind of question was _that?_" Lily cried out.

"I'm going out with a freak," James muttered.

"You're not going out with a freak. _Lily's _going out with the freak," Sirius pointed out.

"Watch it," James warned, pointing his finger in Sirius's face. "I'm still Head Boy for another three days. I can give you a detention for almost anything."

"You think adding one more detention to my record is gonna do anything?" Sirius asked.

"Good point," James said.

"Wow," Kacie said. "Only three more days." She said the password to the Gryffindor commons room and they all walked in and sat in the corner.

James sat down on the couch with Lily by his side as he frowned at the realization that he won't be at Hogwarts for much longer. "I can't believe we spend seven amazing years here and in three days, we go out into the real world as if none of it matters."

Sirius lay down on his stomach on the ground with Gigi sitting up beside him. "I wouldn't say it doesn't matter," Gigi brought up. "I mean, obviously we wouldn't be prepared to go out into the real world if it wasn't for Hogwarts."

"Can we stop calling it the real world," Sirius wondered. "It's freaking me out."

"Okay, _most _of us are prepared," James corrected.

Remus snickered and plopped down on the loveseat that was a few feet away from the couch. "It still hasn't hit me that Hogwarts is over."

Kacie grabbed a pillow from the couch and sat on the floor, leaning against the side of the loveseat. "It's not quite over. We have one more exam tomorrow."

"Shit, we have yet a_nother _exam?" Sirius whined.

"Actually, _you _have two," Gigi pointed out.

"Damnit!" Sirius burst out. "Maybe I should go study…" Sirius looked around at the shocked looks on everyone's faces and then burst out laughing. "I actually believed myself for a few seconds there."

"No one else did," James snickered, catching the pillow Sirius threw at him.

"So…here's a question," Kacie said slowly. "What's gonna happen to us after graduation?"

It was silent for a few seconds. Everyone was pondering what their life would be like after Hogwarts. Would they take a few months off or start working on what they want as their profession?

Lily couldn't help thinking about a University and which one she wanted to go to. If she was busy with work and living away from everyone, would she still see them? And what about her and James? What would happen to them?

Gigi stole a peak at Sirius and then frowned a bit. How long would she and Sirius last after graduation? What did Sirius want to do with his life and did she fit into it? She just got Sirius back and she didn't want to do anything to lose him again.

Remus sighed and couldn't help thinking that there wasn't much that he could do considering what he turned into each month…and last time he checked, people weren't too eager to hire werewolves.

After a few seconds of comfortable silence, James spoke up. "It's gonna stay exactly the same."

Remus cleared his throat. "Except now when Sirius plays pranks, he'll end up in jail, not detention."

The group laughed and most of them were happy that Remus made light of the situation. Because honestly, none of them could actually believe that they were leaving Hogwarts and that they wouldn't be seeing each other every single day.

_OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo_

_yay!! sirius and gigi are back together!! it's about time...and RIGHT before graduation. can james & lily and sirius & gigi stay together for the next few days? review to find out!_


	39. Left Foot Blue, Relationshit, and Love

**_Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 39_**

_I know, I KNOW. it's been waaaaaaaay too long. SORRY! I've been on break and been soooo busy. but here's the scond to last chapter! That's right, only one more chapter after this. _

_Disclaimer: I hope that after 39 chapters, you know that I'm not J.K. Rowling._

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Gigi skipped up the stairs, taking them two by two. She grinned to herself as she thought about her and Sirius and how they were truly back together. She was so happy to be back together with him…her boyfriend. She smiled at the thought of Sirius being her boyfriend and couldn't wait to spend some alone time with him.

Gigi opened the door but then stopped when she saw what was happening in the boy's room. "Oh…my…god."

"This isn't want it looks like!" Sirius cried out almost immediately.

"It looks like you're playing _Twister_," Gigi explained.

"Oh," Sirius said. "Then it's ex_actly _what it looks like."

"So many questions…not sure which to ask first," Gigi said slowly. "Oh! I've got one…." Gigi placed her hands on her hips, "why the hell are you playing Twister?"

"The girls downstairs gave it to us for free," James said with a shrug.

"Still doesn't answer the question."

"We're avoiding studying for our exams," Remus said with a shrug.

"Oh," Gigi said and then paused to think about it. "Can I play?"

"Okay," Sirius said. "But then it's gonna have to be strip Twister."

Gigi gave him a look.

"Okay, okay," Sirius said, "_naked _Twister."

Gigi went over to Sirius and lightly tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to fall over. "Hey! I was gonna win that game!" Sirius cried out from the floor.

"Are you sure?" James asked. "Because you haven't won the other eight games we played."

Gigi coughed on air. "This is your _eighth _time playing this game?"

"Actually, it's our ninth time," Remus said and then hesitated. "That doesn't make us look any better, does it?"

There was a knock on the door just then. "Who the hell knocks on our door?" James asked, tripping on Peter's leg as he looked up at the door, causing both of them to crash onto the floor, right on top of Sirius.

"Come in!" Gigi cried out, amused at the picture she saw in front of her.

"Hey, I'm looking for James," Lily said, poking her head into the room.

"He's on top of Peter and Sirius," Gigi said.

James gave a sheepish grin to his girlfriend. "Hi honey?"

"So _this _is why you disappeared over an hour ago?" Lily asked. "I thought you were just coming up here to get a book."

"I got distracted," James answered shamefacedly.

"We can't help it if we're hot Lily," Sirius said with a grin. "Oh and another thing…_get off me!_"

James and Peter quickly scrambled to their feet. Remus looked at them and then spun the spinner. "Right hand red."

"Oh, give me that," Peter said, swiping the spinner from Remus's hand.

"Hey Lils, wanna play?" Remus asked.

"I have my hardest exam tomorrow! I have only read through half the book and I have no idea where to start looking in my notes," Lily cried out. She thought about what she said and glanced around at her friends. "So…right hand red?"

The group laughed as everyone but Peter put their right hand on a red dot and glanced up as Peter spun the spinner again.

* * *

Two hours, thousands of snacks and soda, and grabbing Kacie on the way later, the game was still going strong. Lily grinned at her best friends as she spun the spinner, happy that they were able to keep her mind off studying.

"Left foot blue," Lily announced.

"Damnit! Not left foot blue. _Anything _but left foot blue," Sirius cried out, as he came tumbling down onto the mat.

"Face it Si," James said. "No matter how many games we play, you are _never _going to win."

"Well let me tell you something," Sirius said. "We are playing this game as many times as it takes until I win."

Gigi groaned, causing her to crash into Remus, bringing them both down onto the floor. "Why don't we just go run two miles or jump off a cliff? That seems more enjoyable."

"I'm with you on that one," Lily said with a laugh.

Sirius growled under his breath and plopped down on his bed, watching Peter, James, and Kacie battle it out for the win. He smiled as Gigi came over and sat down next to him. "I don't want this to end," she said softly to Sirius.

"Don't worry," Sirius assured her. "It won't end til _I _win."

"Oh great, now it's gonna be the never ending game," Gigi teased. "And I didn't mean this game. I meant all of us hanging out together."

"It won't end," Sirius said positively. "It _can't _end. There's nothing else in my life but you guys."

Gigi linked her arm around Sirius's and rested her head on his shoulder. "What do you think you're gonna do after Hogwarts."

"Be a brain surgeon," Sirius teased. Gigi hit him playfully as Sirius shrugged. "I haven't given much thought to it."

"Hogwarts ends in two days," Gigi pointed out. "Don't you think it's time to think about it?"

"If I think about what I am going to do after we graduate, that means that Hogwarts is truly ending," Sirius said, looking at Gigi and giving her a kiss on the top of her head. "I don't want to think about it until I absolutely have to."

Gigi smiled at Sirius and kissed him on the lips. "Then don't," she whispered, nestling closer to him.

James held open an empty tin of peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. "Alright," James said, waving the tin in the air. "Who ate the last cookie??"

The whole group burst into a fit of giggles. "_You _ate the last cookie," Lily responded between her laughs.

"Oh," James said and then gave a sheepish smile. "Carry on."

Lily grinned at him. "Ya know," she said, walking seductively over to him. "You're sexy when you're serious." Lily smiled wider. "Too bad it was about a cookie."

"I can't help it," James said. "Food turns me on."

"That goes on the list of things I did _not _need to know about James," Kacie cried out from across the room, biting into an oatmeal cookie. "Yum. Who made this?"

"Me," Sirius spoke up. Kacie gave him a look. "And by me…I mean a house elf."

Kacie laughed and finished up the cookie. She looked over at Remus lying across the Twister mat with Peter relaxing in a chair beside him. She licked the crumbs off her fingers as she glanced over at James leaning against a bedpost with both arms wrapped around Lily from the back. Kacie kept a smile on her face as she turned her gaze to Sirius and Gigi who were lying down on his bed, their fingers entwined.

"This is such a perfect memory," Kacie spoke up. "All of us hanging out together. Nothing could ruin this moment."

"Shit! I have so much studying to do," Lily cried out, glancing down at her watch.

"…I spoke too soon," Kacie groaned, gathering her things. "I suppose we did waste a lot of studying time."

"Waste? You call this a _waste_?" Sirius cried out. "Twister will never _ever _be a-"

"It's a complete waste of time," James explained.

"That's basically like saying my life is a complete waste-"

"Don't finish that sentence because I will then feel the need to make a mean comment about your pitiful life and I don't feel like sleeping alone tonight," Gigi said with a grin, receiving a playful pout from Sirius.

"Ugh, I can't believe how much work I have to do before the end of the school year," Lily groaned.

"Oh my god, _I_ have so much to do! I'm not gonna get any sleep tonight!" Sirius freaked out. He glanced around at his friends and then burst out laughing. "I almost believed myself for a second there."

"I didn't," James responded, throwing a pillow in his direction.

* * *

Gigi was biting into an apple when she noticed a little bit of light coming from an empty classroom. She poked her head in and gave a questioning look when she noticed who it was.

"What are you doing?" she wondered.

"Studying," Sirius said, not even looking from his textbook.

Gigi paused. "No, really. What are you doing?"

Sirius looked up at gave her a smile. "Don't tell anyone. It will ruin my reputation," Sirius teased.

Gigi shrugged and turned around to leave but stopped when Sirius spoke up. "What are you doing right now?"

"On my way to take a nap," Gigi said, whirling around.

"Nap here," Sirius said.

Gigi raised her eyebrows.

"And by nap, I mean snog me," Sirius said with a grin.

Gigi laughed, kicked the door closed behind her, and threw away the apple core she was holding. "So are you _really _studying? Because you can honestly tell me what you're really up to."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Why do you think I'm studying in an empty classroom?" he patted his lap and Gigi came over and sat down on it, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "I can't get distracted by anyone or anything. That's why no one sees me studying."

"Ah," Gigi said. "Well I won't tell anyone that you really do study. We don't want people thinking that you're actually smart."

"That's all I ask," Sirius said.

Gigi looked at him and burst out laughing at that comment. She snuggled closer to him and shut her eyes. "Hmm, this is a much better place to nap."

Sirius brushed her hair out of her face and kissed her on the forehead. He was staring intensely at her, not believing how gorgeous and peaceful she looked at that moment. She opened her eyes when she felt Sirius's lips on her cheek and smiled at him, not tearing her eyes away from his.

Gigi softly said, "So what are you studying?"

"Female anatomy," Sirius whispered almost inaudibly as he brought his lips to hers. She draped her arms around his neck and intensified the kiss.

He tore his lips away from his and they spent a few seconds just staring at each other, trying to read the verbal clues. Gigi reached for his shirt and slowly unbuttoned it, pealing it off his arms, and throwing it to the floor.

Sirius pushed the books to the side with his arm, not caring when they fell to the floor with a loud crash. He kissed the hollow of her neck and quietly whispered, "I suddenly _really _like studying," before he slipped her shirt over her head and it fell onto the floor with his shirt.

* * *

"Okay, so did anyone else understand the whole second page of that exam?" Kacie asked with a groan.

Sirius stopped walking. "There was a whole second page??"

"It's not like you would have understood it anyway," James pointed out.

Sirius paused and then shrugged. "Yeah, that's true."

"Now, c'mon guys," Lily said. "Give him some credit. He could have known some of it."

"It was about the _monsumilium_ curse," James pointed out.

"What the hell is that?" Sirius asked.

"My point exactly," James said with a smirk in Lily's direction.

"I'm just glad…oh my god!!" Sirius shrieked, stopping in the entrance of the Great Hall. "This is the best going away present _ever!!_"

"Huh?" everyone questioned.

Sirius pointed to the food on the tables. "Hell yeah! It's hamburger day!!" James cried out.

"Oh god, not this whole stuffing our mouths disgustingly, spewing hamburger in every direction, calorie fest thing again," Kacie groaned.

"It's called a hamburger eating contest," Remus pointed out.

"It's called the best freakin contest _ever!_" Sirius cried out, running to the hamburgers.

"Apparently we have renamed the contest," Remus said with a laugh.

"When will he ever grow up?" Gigi moaned but secretly smiling to herself, not being able to believe how happy she was with Sirius, thinking back to last night.

"I think we can safely say the answer to that question is _never_," Lily said with a laugh, as Peter, Remus and James jetted towards the hamburgers as well. "And they'll never grow up either."

"At least we can be grown-ups," Kacie said, shaking her head and walking towards the table.

"HEY! Don't take all the hamburgers, you hamburger-hoggers!" Gigi cried out, sprinting towards the table.

"I stand corrected," Kacie said, shaking her head again. Lily linked arms with Kacie as they walked towards the Gryffindor table and sat across from the guys.

"Where's Georgie? Where's Freddie?" Sirius asked, grabbing a bunch of hamburgers from the bowl and piling them up on his plate. "We should _so _start this contest without them."

"Just give them a few minutes," James said, rolling his eyes. "They're probably at the nurse after having a panic attack from that ridiculously hard Defense Against the Dark Arts exam."

"They're right over there," Gigi noted, pointing to the Hufflepuff table.

"And perhaps they're sitting right over there," James corrected.

"Georgie! Freddie! Get your asses over here!" Sirius shrieked.

"I have never seen him get so excited over anything in his entire life," Gigi said.

"Except girls," James pointed out, turning around on the bench to face her.

"Hmm, I don't know," Gigi said slowly. "He's never this excited around me." Gigi turned to Sirius. "Close your mouth Si, you're drooling."

"Wanna kiss?" Sirius asked with a wink.

"Ew," Gigi said. "Suddenly I'm happy that you don't get this excited when you're around me."

"Clearly we know what his life priorities are," James said as he watched Sirius pile hamburgers on Georgie and Freddie's plates. "Food…girls…then breathing."

"Nuh uh," Sirius said, shaking his head. "Food…then _sex_…then breathing."

Gigi picked up and entire hamburger and threw it at Sirius.

"HEY! You are wasting perfectly good hamburger there," Sirius exclaimed. Gigi gave him a look. "I mean…I love you, honey," Sirius said in a foolish voice with a goofy grin.

Gigi froze in place. "Um…what?"

Sirius also froze and choked on the hamburger that was currently in his mouth now. He coughed a little and with the help of James' patting his back, he coughed it back up.

After he was done coughing, Sirius wiped his mouth and stood up from the table. "So…let's get this contest started!" Sirius cried out, mentally hitting himself for telling Gigi he loved her in a way that made it seem like it wasn't a big deal. He didn't even know what love was and here he was, throwing out the word as if it was nothing. He never even used that word before, except to describe cookies and chocolate…and mini skirts.

No one else seemed to really understand what happened and didn't notice the tension between Sirius and Gigi. "You guys in or out?" James asked, looking up at Kacie and Lily who were currently sitting on the side of the table.

"We are _so_ out," Kacie answered.

"Oh c'mon! It's a day before we're out of this place!" Freddie cried out. "You _have _to play. It's like a rule."

"There's now a Hogwarts rule that says you can't graduate if you don't participate in a hamburger eating contest?" Lily questioned.

"Yup!" Freddie answered quickly.

"I'm Head Girl. If that was a rule, I'd know about it," Lily said smugly.

"So?" Georgie asked. "James is Head Boy and he _still _knows nothing."

In mid-bite, James answered, "Ya, iss thrue."

Lily thought about what Freddie had just said and shrugged. She turned to Kacie. "How many times after this are we ever gonna be able to participate in a hamburger eating contest with some of our closest friends."

"_Never_. That's the point," Kacie pointed out. "We'll be in the real world…where that isn't acceptable behavior."

"Oh shut up," Gigi said. "You sound like Lily."

"Hey!" Lily cried out.

"It's true," James pointed out.

"Yeah, okay," Lily agreed.

"Fine! Are you happy?? You've talked me into it! I will get fat from eating ten hamburgers!" Kacie burst out.

Everyone looked at her. "We hardly said anything to you…" Remus spoke up.

Kacie shrugged. "Give me some hamburgers."

"And don't worry Kace," Sirius said. "You'll probably only get through three or four by the time this freak-" Sirius pointed at Gigi (without making eye contact of course), "-is finished."

"What? You don't think I can win this?" Kacie asked, putting her hands on her hips and stepping off the bench.

"No way," Sirius said. "You're not adequately prepared like the rest of us."

"It's true," Lily said. "I'll be surprised if I get past three hamburgers."

"I'll be surprised if you get past _one_," James snickered.

Lily took a hamburger and stuffed it in his mouth and stuck her tongue immaturely out at him.

"Alright, let's get this contest started!" Sirius cried out, taking charge and standing up from the table, facing the participants. He laughed as Kacie neatly fit a napkin into the top of her shirt and Lily carefully put her hamburgers in tidy order on her plate. "You are such girls."

James turned to look at Kacie and Lily and burst out laughing. "That tends to be a quality I like in my girlfriend."

"She's neatly stacking her hamburgers! That's not a girl, that's a freak!" Sirius cried out.

"Um, hello? I'm standing right here," Lily burst out.

"Oh honey, you're sitting, not standing," James said. Lily growled at him. "You're gonna stuff another hamburger into my mouth aren't you?"

"Seriously, what's wrong with your girlfriend?" Sirius asked, as Lily continued to stack her hamburgers in a row.

"You want the list?" James snickered.

"Sitting _right _here," Lily cried out.

James turned to Lily with a smile and got a hamburger thrown into his face.

"At least she didn't stuff it in your mouth this time," Sirius explained with a shrug.

"Yeah, but this one had ketchup on it," James muttered, using a napkin to get ketchup off his face.

"You guys have that love-hate relationship going on, huh?" Freddie asked.

"More like a love-hate relation_shit_," James muttered jokingly.

Lily turned to him and gave him a look. James pointed to the hamburger in her hand. "You're gonna stuff that down my pants, aren't you?"

Lily grinned and smashed two hamburgers in his hair.

"I really hafta learn to stop talking," James said with a groan as he rustled his hair, trying to get every piece of hamburger out of it.

Sirius gave him a look.

"Around Lily, at least."

Lily laughed as she slapped the hands Kacie and Gigi put up for a high five.

"Man James, you are _whipped_," Georgie said with a laugh.

"I am not! Never in my lifetime will I be whipped by a _girl_," James exclaimed and then he glanced over at Lily. "Please tell me we're out of hamburgers."

"Yeah and besides, you're wasting perfectly good hamburger!" Sirius cried out, snatching the hamburger out of Lily's grip and stuffing it in his mouth.

"Hey, I thought we were getting this contest started?" Remus asked.

"This is just substance food," Sirius said with his mouth full, hamburger spewing out in several different directions.

"Wow Gi, you are one lucky gal to be dating…_that_," Freddie said. "For lack of a better word."

"Yeah," Gigi said, obviously distracted. She couldn't help but think about what Sirius said earlier. _I love you honey. _Of course he was just saying it in a joking manner…but still, the words came out of his mouth. Joking or not, he actually said that. But did he _mean _it? Why would he say it if he didn't mean it?

Gigi sat there as everyone else gathered their hamburgers and conversed about the contest. I mean, she knows that they finally took their relationship to another level…a _wonderful _level. She smiled to herself thinking about Sirius's little "study session" the night before. But…he never used the word love before except to describe food, or classes being cancelled, or mini skirts. Never _ever _had he used the word around a girl before, es_pecially _his girlfriend.

_Shit_, Sirius thought to himself as he glanced over at Gigi completely zoning out and not answering Lily as she asked Gigi a question. The only thing she could be thinking about was how he so stupidly said the "L" word when he clearly didn't mean it…

…or did he?

"THREE…TWO…ONE…_GO!_" a Gryffindor fifth year claimed as everyone dug (or neatly picked up in the case of Kacie and Lily) into their hamburgers. That took both Gigi and Sirius out of their trance as they picked up at least two hamburgers each and mashed them into their mouth.

"Ew, look at the boys. They look so disgusting. They have more hamburger ending up down their fronts than actually in their _mouths_," a friend of Freddie and Georgie's spoke up.

"Look at the _boys? _Screw them, look at _Gigi. _She's an _animal!_" another friend cried out.

"Thannlk ya," Gigi said with her mouth full of at least three different hamburgers.

"Those boys will _never _attract girls like this," a voice said from the end of the table.

"Except girls like that," someone said, pointing to Gigi as she stuffed hamburger into her mouth.

"I think Kacie and Lily are playing who can be the neatest hamburger eater," Lucie said, poking her head over the crowd.

"And Lily is definitely winning," a Ravenclaw seventh year boy answered.

Kacie gave him a gesture with her finger that would not have been appropriate in front of professors.

"Suddenly I'm _loving _Kacie," the boy answered seductively.

"Sheez ssingel!" Gigi cried out.

"Huh?"

"She said, _she's single_," Lily said, looking up from her hamburgers.

"And very attractive looking right now," another boy added. "Especially with that hamburger hanging out of her mouth."

"COME ON KACIE! My money's on you!" the first boy cried out.

Kacie looked up at him and then started digging into her hamburgers as if she was a cave woman…or Sirius.

"_DONE!_" Sirius cried out, holding up his empty plate.

"Damnit!" Georgie cried out, swallowing the rest of his seventh hamburger.

"Man, I _really _thought I was gonna win," Lily said sarcastically, rolling her eyes and pushing her plate of eight hamburgers towards James and Sirius who gladly dug into them as if they haven't eaten anything all day.

Kacie gave them a repulsive look and was taken aback when Remus also started digging into the plate of leftover hamburgers. "You guys are pigs."

"She says that with love," Peter said, even though the boys were too consumed with food to realize what was going on around them.

"I think I licked that one," Kacie said, pointing to a hamburger in the center of the plate.

Sirius shrugged and grabbed the hamburger she was referring to, sticking it into his mouth.

"I am officially disgusted," Kacie said, giving Sirius a repulsive look.

Gigi wiped her mouth off, chugged a glass of pumpkin juice, and stood up. "I think I'm gonna get out of here."

"But we just got here," Lily said. "And it's not like we have any more classes or exams or anything. It's like a huge weight has been lifted off our shoulders."

"We're _free!_" James cried out between bites of hamburger.

"Or you could put it like that," Lily said.

Gigi shrugged. "I just feel really hot. I'm gonna get some air."

"Want some company?" Lily asked and then jumped up. "Ew! James!"

James picked up the plate that fell on Lily and then eventually on the floor. "Oops, sorry."

Gigi laughed a little. "You seem to be preoccupied. I'll just see you later." And with that, Gigi sauntered off.

Sirius had been listening to the whole conversation and sighed, pushing his plate of hamburgers out of reach. He leaned back on the bench and sighed.

"You're _full?_" Remus asked. "I don't think I've ever seen that happen in the seven years that I've known you."

"Yeah," Sirius said, obviously preoccupied with something else. "I'm gonna get going too. See you guys later." Sirius shook his head and rolled his eyes when it didn't seem that his friends were paying attention to him because they were too busy eating some—I mean _all_ the leftovers on the table.

* * *

"Gi, wait up," Sirius called out. He attempted to yell it out but it came out weaker than a yell only because he wasn't quite sure what he was going to say to her…and that worried him a little bit.

Gigi froze in place, not sure if she wanted to face him or not. She sighed under her breath and then turned to face him. "Hi."

"You ran out of there pretty fast," Sirius said, mentally kicking himself for stating the obvious and not having anything else prepared to say.

Gigi shrugged. "Too many hamburgers. I was ready to throw up."

"Oh," Sirius said, ready to crawl into a hole and die.

Gigi and Sirius just stared awkwardly at each other, neither one knowing if it was okay to leave but neither one having anything to say.

Sirius took a deep breath and couldn't believe he was gonna bring the 'forbidden subject' up. "Look, what I said in there…" he trailed off, reading the pained look on Gigi's face.

"Oh yeah, I know you didn't mean it like that or anything," Gigi said really fast, her face getting hot from embarrassment.

"Oh, right. Yeah, of course not," Sirius said quickly.

Gigi's heart sank and she wasn't even sure why. She cleared her throat. "So um…congrats on winning the contest."

"Oh c'mon. We all knew I was gonna win," Sirius said. "I have such a big mouth."

Gigi let out a fake laugh. "Ain't that the truth," she said, forcing a smile.

It grew quiet again and Sirius spoke up, tired and afraid of the awkwardness. He was afraid that he would say something else he'd end up regretting. "Well…I have homework to do. I'll see you later."

"But you _never _do homework!" Gigi called out as he darted down the hallway.

"Now's as good a time as any to start!" Sirius cried out over his shoulder.

Gigi stood there for a second and then said to herself, "And school is over."

* * *

"I _hate _you," Sirius cried out that night, throwing his pillow at James.

James looked up at Sirius pacing back and forth in his room. "Can I ask why?"

"No wait," Sirius said, still pacing. "I hate _Lily_. Where is she? I need to yell at her."

"Wait, what? First tell _me _what's going on," James said, putting down the clothes he was folding at looking up at his best friend.

"No! Need to yell at Lily," Sirius burst out. "Wait, no. I hate _girls_. I need to yell at all girls."

"Now, is that all the girls in the world? Or will just the Gryffindor girls do?" James asked.

"You're mocking me," Sirius said sternly. "This is _not _a time to make fun of me!"

"Now is a _perfect _time to make fun of you because you aren't making any sense," James exclaimed. "Why the hell do you hate me, Lily, _and _all the girls in the world?"

Sirius sighed. "I never thought about love before. It never _once _crossed my mind and then you and Lily have to go and fall in love." Sirius narrowed his eyes and looked at James. "I hate that."

"So lemme get this straight," James said slowly. "You don't hate Lily and I. You just hate love."

"NO! I hate you and Lily," Sirius cried out.

James gave him a look.

"Okay," Sirius said with a pout, slumping down in a chair besides James's bed. "I hate love."

"I'm gonna need more information to piece together whatever the hell it is you're trying to say," James said.

Sirius sighed heavily and didn't say anything for quite awhile. After what seemed like hours of silence (but was actually just two minutes), Sirius looked up at James and got the nerve to ask, "How do you know if you're in love?"

James gave him a suspicious look. "Why the sudden urge to find out what love is about?"

Sirius sighed and glanced down at a picture of Lily and James that was sitting on his nightstand. He smiled slightly at the picture, happy that his best friend was in a healthy relationship. He laughed a little too himself as he thought about the friendly arguments that the two of them had at lunch that afternoon. "Forget it. Let's go get drunk on our last night here."

"Hold up!" James called out before Sirius could walk out of the door. "Do you love Gigi?"

Sirius shrugged and then groaned. "I don't know!" he exclaimed, running his hands nervously through his hair. "I wish I knew what the hell love was. Why oh _why _did I have to go and say I love you to her??"

"You told her that you loved her?" James exclaimed, clamping his hand over his mouth. "Oh my gosh. Sirius Black actually used the word love…and _not _about mini skirts."

"Well not really," Sirius said. "It kind of just slipped out in a joking manner so we decided that it didn't mean anything."

"We?" James asked with raised eyebrows.

"Okay, _me_," Sirius exclaimed. "Me said it meant nothing."

"You mean _'I'_ said it meant nothing," James corrected.

"_You _told my girlfriend you loved her but it meant nothing??" Sirius cried out, standing up and clenching his fists.

"No! You used the wrong grammar in your sentence, you dolt," James said.

"Oh who cares, we're out of school," Sirius said, plopping back down on the bed.

"Too bad you still need another seven years here," James muttered. "But anyway. So you told Gi that you loved her but then you said it didn't mean anything?"

"She was being all awkward! I figured she didn't love me back and she was worried about hurting me. So I just quickly made it so there wouldn't be a problem," Sirius said. "Does that sound positively stupid?"

"Yes," James said immediately. "But it is _you _talking." James looked up at his best friend. "So what I'm hearing is that you _do _love Gigi but you were afraid of rejection so you took it back before she got the time to say she didn't love you back…although you don't actually know if that's true."

"Yes," Sirius said. "Wait, no. I mean...you got _that _from what I said?"

"Yup."

"Oh." Sirius paused to think about what James said. "But I _don't _love Gigi."

"Are you sure?" James said really slowly, giving Sirius time to think about it.

"What is this, a test?" Sirius wondered.

James gave him a look.

Sirius sighed. "I don't want to lose her," he said softly.

"Oh, but avoiding her because you're afraid of the 'L' word is better?" James asked.

Sirius threw another pillow at James. "When did you become so smart?"

"It's a gift," James said with a smirk.

"More like a curse," Sirius muttered with a hint of a smile.

Sirius sighed again; he wasn't in love with Gigi. He was _Sirius Black_…the guy of one night stands and _no _commitment. No way was he in love…right? He looked up at James. "How do you know if you're in love?"

James shrugged and turned his gaze to look at the picture of Lily on his desk. "You just know," he said with a smile.

Sirius looked at his friend smiling at a picture of his girlfriend and groaned. "Okay, you're grossing me out."

James shook out of his trance and turned back to his best friend. "Let me ask you a question. _Why _do you think you're not in love with Gigi?"

"Uh _hello? _Because it's _me_. Sirius Black! Commitment is something I never thought I'd do. Dating a girl longer than a week is something I didn't understand. Sticking to one and _only _one girl...no way! I'm the player type of guy," Sirius said.

James grinned at his best friend but didn't say anything.

"Okay, why are you smiling at me like that?" Sirius said slowly. "You're creeping me out."

"You love her," he said.

Sirius didn't say anything for a bit. "Care to elaborate?"

"You didn't think you did commitment. You never thought of dating a girl longer than a week. You didn't think that you would ever be able to stick to a girl longer than a carton of milk stays fresh," James explained. "But look at you. You have a girlfriend who you've been with for a while…despite a few rough patches. You have committed to _two _different girls, well sort of."

"Still not getting it," Sirius said.

"You were afraid of all of those things but you managed to get past all of that," James said. "So basically, you're afraid to say you love Gigi, but you're gonna get past that."

"But how are you so sure that I love her?" Sirius asked.

"You're just afraid Sirius," James said. "Don't you get it?"

"Obviously not."

James rolled his eyes. "What are you so afraid of?" James asked sincerely.

"Well, I'm not a fan of spiders. Or homework."

"You're afraid of homework?" James asked with a snicker.

"I have nightmares of it suffocating me in my sleep," Sirius pointed out.

"Okay, that's something you should never _ever _tell anyone," James said. "…_ever_."

Sirius laughed. "Oh! And I'm really afraid of death. And those things that muggles ride in…plane thingys."

"I'm not talking about…_airplanes? _You're afraid of _airplanes?_" James cried out. "You learn something new about your best friend every day."

"I'm also afraid of-"

"I'm talking about with _Gigi. _I'm talking about love, you dolt," James said.

"Why didn't you just say that?" Sirius asked.

"This entire conversation has been about love. I thought it was implied," James said.

"Never assume I know something is implied," Sirius explained.

James was about to retort to that and then he it finally dawned on him as to what Sirius was afraid of. "Oh wow…you're afraid of rejection."

"Huh?"

"You're afraid to tell Gigi you love her because she might not say it back," James established.

"No, that's not it. I'm afraid to say I love you because I don't know if I _do _love her," Sirius said.

James gave him a look.

Sirius sighed. "When it comes to relationships, I just feel so stupid."

"That's not just when it comes to relationships," James said.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "There's a day and a half left of Hogwarts. What if I screw it up and then we leave and I never see her again? What if I mess things up and I don't get a second chance to get it right?"

"Actually, it would be a third chance," James spoke up. Sirius glared at him. "But we don't need math anymore…we're out of school."

Sirius heaved a sigh and fell on James's bed onto his back.

James cleared his throat and turned to his best friend with soft eyes. "You also only have a day and a half to tell her how you feel before you graduate and go out into the real world to do who-knows-what."

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked, sitting up and leaning against his elbow.

James sighed and fell back onto his pillows. "Lily is talking about going to a university in another country. What makes you think Gigi isn't thinking about something like that? You don't know what's gonna happen after graduation. So what I'm saying is that you say you only have a day and a half and you could screw things up…but you also only have a day and a half to tell her how you truly feel. What if you never get another chance to tell her how you feel?"

Sirius bolted up. "_What? _You think Gigi could be going to another country?? You don't think we'll be together after Hogwarts??" Sirius gasped and brought his hand to his mouth. "Oh my god…_I love her_."

James grinned.

"I picture our futures _together_. I didn't do that with Lucie. And I didn't do that in the beginning of Gigi and my relationship," Sirius said. He was silent for a few seconds thinking over this new realization. "I love her," he whispered to himself.

James' grin grew bigger. "Well don't tell _me_. Go find Gigi!"

"Thanks Prongs!" Sirius exclaimed. "Have I ever told you that you're awesome?"

"No."

"Oh…you'd think I would have by now," Sirius said and then he raced out of the room.

* * *

"And _then _Sawyer Tunkin called me _hot_," Gigi said with a huge grin on her face.

"Um…you _do _know that you have a boyfriend, right?" Kacie asked.

"Oh, I know that," Gigi said, rolling her eyes. "But it's flattering. And not only did he call me hot, he told his pal that I have a 'smokin ass.'"

"Guys are pigs," Lily muttered.

"Hey! Don't rain on my parade," Gigi said. "Anyone who calls me hot is a wonderful human being."

"Why not jump into bed with him?" Lily mumbled with a hint of a smile.

"I would…but I don't think Sirius would appreciate it," Gigi joked.

"How come all the guys want you?" Kacie whined. "Is my ass not 'smokin?'"

Gigi shrugged. "I dunno. Turn around and let me see your ass."

"Okay, this conversation has taken a strange turn," Lily said.

"You're just worried that you have the least 'smokin' ass out of all three of us," Gigi said.

"I am_ not_ worried—wait, you think my ass is the worst out of all three of us?" Lily questioned, stopping dead in her tracks and putting her hands on her hips.

"Whose ass is the worst?" James asked, joining the girls as he strolled up from a perpendicular hallway.

"Lily's," Gigi said with a shrug.

"Not from where I'm standing," James said with a wink. The group burst out laughing as they walked towards the Gryffindor tower.

"The point is," Gigi said, smiling wide. "I love guys and this is the best day ever."

"Does that mean you love Sirius back?" James asked.

Gigi slowed her walking pace. "Huh?"

"When Sirius told you that he truly loved you, what did you say back?" James wondered.

Gigi froze in place. "What?"

"Well?? Did you say it back?" James questioned.

"Sirius told you he loved you??" Kacie squealed.

"No," Gigi answered.

Now it was James's turn to freeze in place. "Wait…but you just said that you loved boys."

"Yeah because someone called me hot today," Gigi recalled.

"Oh, shit," James said under his breath. "Well…I gotta go. I'll-"

"You're not just referring to the slip up at lunch today, are you," Gigi stated. She already knew the answer so she didn't bother stating it in the form of a question. "So what the hell _are _you talking about?"

"Nothing," James said quickly. "Seriously, I'm late. I hafta go now."

"You aren't going _anywhere_," Gigi cried out.

"I'd listen to her," Lily said in a low voice. "The vein is starting to pop out of her head."

"Look Gi," James said slowly, afraid that she was about to bite his head off, "I must have just heard something wrong. It's no big deal."

"Apparently my boyfriend has been talking to you about loving me instead of talking to _me_ and then I have to go and hear it from _you_," Gigi exclaimed. "And you call that no big deal??"

"Yes," James said, "I mean no. Maybe? Crap, I don't know the answer."

"It isn't a test," Gigi said, rolling her eyes.

"Then how come I feel like I'm failing?" James asked, cowering into a corner.

Gigi sighed. "Did he really say that he loved me?"

"I honestly have no idea what I'm talking about," James said. "You know that that's usually the case. You should talk to Sirius, not me."

Gigi grew frustrated. She thought the whole 'love' thing was out of the way and wasn't a problem anymore. She didn't want to worry about it anymore…right? She was glad when Sirius told her that he didn't mean it. Then why, if that is the case, did she feel so let down when he agreed that it meant nothing when she brought it up?

"Yeah," she said, obviously distracted. "I'm going to go find Sirius." But she knew there was no way she was going to go find him. In fact, she knew that she was going to avoid him at all costs…and she couldn't really understand why.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

_Uh oh...what's gonna happen to Sirius and Gigi? Is the whole group gonna make it to graduation without any fights or breakups? REVIEW TO FIND OUT!_


	40. Midnight Blue, Goodbyes, and Antoine

**_Don't Let Your Guard Down  
chapter 40_**

_i'm gonna cry...this is the last chapter!! it's what you have all been waiting for...whats gonna happen with gigi and sirius? what about lily and james? will anything happen between remus and kacie? will the group go their seperate ways? READ TO FIND OUT!! _

_just so you know...gigi isn't your average girl. she's used to being a player kind of girl. guy after guy, date after date, sex after sex (lol). she freaked out when she heard that sirius loved her because she never thought she would fall in love...and that scared her. a whole hell of a lot! sirius hurt her several years ago and she thinks that if she falls in love, she'll end up hurt in the end just like the first time...she doesn't want to let her guard down. but don't worry...i'm not gonna have them break up over that. that would be a little pathetic. keep reading to find out what will happen!_

_disclaimer: this is the last chapter...please tell me you know who i'm not_

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"You did _what?!_" Sirius screamed later that night.

"Okay, I know this sounds bad but…" James trailed off.

"Well _duh _it sounds bad!" Sirius cried out. "You fuckin told my girlfriend I loved her…and she _bolted._"

"I didn't mean to blurt it out!" James burst out. "I assumed you did the right thing."

"Don't _ever _assume that!" Sirius exclaimed.

"So wait, let me get this straight," Remus said slowly. He turned to Sirius. "You know how to use the word 'love?'"

Sirius threw a book at him. "Shut up. Obviously I never should have opened by mouth and used the word 'love.' My life was going a lot better when I was a Cassonova player. I think I'm gonna go back to that life."

"Oh yeah, because that's such a satisfying life," Peter said, rolling his eyes.

"Sirius Black was never intended to use the word 'love' and now we all see why," Sirius said with a groan. He got up from his bed and paced back and forth. "Actually, this is a good thing."

"See! I didn't screw it up. This is a _good _thing," James said and then paused. "Wait, how is this a good thing?"

"Well Gigi is avoiding me," Sirius said. "So it won't make it very hard for me to avoid her."

"With one day left, you're gonna avoid her?" Remus questioned.

"Why not?" Sirius said. "It's been working so far."

"Oh really? Because I think that when you avoided her, James ended up telling her you loved her," Remus pointed out. "Not such a great track record."

"You aren't helping me Moony," James hissed.

"Oh you can't be helped in any way," Sirius said. "You are _dead_."

"I would say that's a little harsh," James said. "But I definitely deserve it for what I did."

"A slow painful death," Sirius said slowly.

"Okay, now that's starting to sound harsh…" James said, obviously a little worried.

"Where your head comes rolling off your body," Sirius said. "And you end up castrated."

"Okay, let's talk about ponies and rainbows," James suggested.

"Where ponies eat you alive," Sirius added.

"Okay, I'm starting to think that you're serious," James said.

Sirius stopped pacing and glared at him.

"Yup, I'm a dead man," James whispered.

"I screwed up this relationship beyond a point where it definitely cannot be saved," Sirius said with a sigh.

"Oh c'mon. That's not true," Remus said. "Using the word 'love' shouldn't be this big of a problem."

"My girlfriend freaked out when James told her I loved her," Sirius said. "If she could leave the Hogwarts grounds, I'm sure she'd be halfway home right now."

"Sirius, and I say this with love," Remus started. "You are such a moron."

"How is calling me a moron, saying it with love?" Sirius said.

"I'm not sure," Remus said. "But let's get back to the point."

"That I'm a moron?"

"Exactly," Remus said. "First of all, you should have told Gigi before anyone else that you love her. But obviously it's too late for that." James cowered as Sirius gave him an evil glare. "Just go find Gigi. Just talk to her. You don't have to bring up the whole 'love' subject. Just go talk to her like it used to be before all of this happened."

Sirius thought about what his friend just said. "But it's so awkward between us right now. I don't know if either one of us can just ignore what has happened and go back to how things used to be."

"Okay, well then I have another idea," Remus said. "Tell her yourself that you love her and don't ignore the subject."

"You have some of the worst ideas I've ever heard," Sirius said, sighing and leaning up against his bedpost. "I'm just gonna pray that I die before tomorrow."

"Oh yeah because _that's _a better idea than the ones I had," Remus retorted, rolling his eyes.

Sirius sighed and walked over to the windowsill and sat on it, heaving another sigh as he plopped down in the corner. He looked out of the window and noticed Gigi leaning against a tree. She looked so cute as she sat there reading a letter in the comfort of the shade. He smiled a little to himself realizing that he could just watch her all day doing something as simple as reading to herself, and that just confirmed his belief that he knew that he really did love her…he just wished his best friend didn't already tell her.

* * *

Lily glanced up from her magazine and gazed at her two best friends. Gigi was sitting on the floor painting her toenails bright red while Kacie was sprawled on the couch reading some book she picked up from Lily's shelf. 

"Who names the crayons?" Lily questioned.

Both Kacie and Gigi looked up from what they were doing and just stared.

"Ya know, like the crayon called forest green or midnight blue. Who decides what midnight blue is? To me, midnight would describe black, not blue," Lily said.

"You've been hanging out with Sirius far too long," Kacie concurred.

Lily laughed. "Sorry, I'm reading an article that just said the girl had midnight blue eyes which got me thinking about that color which made me think about crayons which…" Lily trailed off as Gigi and Kacie started giggling at how stupid she sounded. "Oh shut up. School's out, I don't need to explain my thinking process to you."

"What thinking process?" Gigi snickered.

Lily grabbed her magazine and threw it in Gigi's direction. Gigi laughed and then paused. "What about that new color, Caribbean green? How can we be sure that that color truly is the color of the Caribbean?"

Kacie glanced up at Lily and all three girls burst into laughter. "It's sad that our brains are so full of information from the NEWT's that we have to resort to talking about crayon colors," Kacie said with a giggle.

Gigi sighed, putting the cap on her nail polish and admiring her toenails. She looked up from the floor and said, "We'll still have lots of talks like this even after we graduate, right?"

"I can almost guarantee that talks about crayons will not come up that often after we graduate," Lily teased.

Gigi threw the magazine at her with a laugh. "I meant just all of us hanging out together talking about whatever's on our minds."

"Of course," Lily assured her. "If I can't talk to you guys about what's on my mind, I may go crazy."

"Will we have to listen to more boring stories about James?" Kacie joked. "Because if so, I'm moving far _far _away."

It was Kacie's turn to get the magazine thrown at her…along with a pillow. Kacie laughed. "I'm just kidding. When I marry my doctor, I need you both there."

"You getting married?" Gigi asked with raised eyebrows. "I wouldn't miss that for the world…mostly because you'll be standing at the altar _alone_."

The girls all turned to the entrance as a loud commotion erupted from the portrait hole. "Don't worry girls," James said with a grin, showing up in front of the girls and putting his hands on her hips. "The men are here."

Gigi stretched her neck to look around James and Remus. "Behind you?" Gigi teased.

James stuck his tongue out at him. "Just proving her point honey," Lily said with a laugh.

Remus came out from behind James and sat down on the arm of the couch. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Crayons," Kacie said.

"Oh c'mon," James said. "You don't have to come up with a lame excuse to cover up that you were really talking about us."

Lily, Gigi, and Kacie all exchanged looks and burst out laughing. "So what do _you _think about the color midnight blue?" Lily asked her boyfriend who plopped down on a chair right beside her.

James shrugged. "That anybody who thinks about it has way too much time on their hands."

Lily turned to Kacie. "I think it's his turn."

And three seconds later, James was whacked with a magazine.

* * *

Lily snuggled closer to James as he tightened his grip around her shoulders. Lily couldn't believe that she wouldn't be seeing James every day after tomorrow like she was able to do at Hogwarts. 

James kissed Lily on the forehead. "I can't believe we leave this place tomorrow," James whispered, afraid that if he said it any louder it would actually be true.

Lily smiled up at her boyfriend, knowing he was having the same thoughts she was. "No Twister, no hamburger eating contests, no hanging out with you guys for hours on end-"

"No watching Sirius attempt to flirt with McGonagall to get out of doing homework," James said with a snicker.

"No watching how surprised he is when he actually does well on an exam," Lily noted.

"Or how surprisd _we _are," James said with a laugh.

Lily laughed along with him and then looked up at James with sincerity in her eyes. "What do you think's gonna happen to us? To the group? To everyone?" Lily asked, not sure if she wanted to know the answer.

"Well," James started, rubbing Lily's shoulder a little bit, "You and I are going to be just fine. We don't have to be together every day to make our relationship work. As for the group, hopefully we'll all live close enough that getting together and hanging out like old times won't be a problem. I know Remus, Sirius, and I have discussed getting a flat or moving into the place that Sirius has now. And as for everyone else...hopefully Snape will fall down a well, Dumbledore will continue being Headmaster, and McGonagall won't party too hard after Sirius graduates."

Lily burst out laughing, happy that James could always put her in a good mood. "All you want for Snape is for him to fall down a well?"

"Well, what I _really _want is a little too vulgar and frankly, I don't want you knowing just how much of a dark side I have," James teased, pushing a strand of hair out of Lily's face and tucking it behind her ears.

Lily grinned, thinking back to what James said before. "So you believe that we'll all stay friends?"

"I believe that we are all inseperable now so why would anything change?" James asked. "And there's still letters and floo powder if someone has to move away."

"That's true," Lily murmured. "Anyone who doesn't want to remain friends with the group wasn't really our friend in the first place."

"Exactly," James said with a shrug.

Lily scrunched down on the couch and put a pillow in James' lap, placing her head on the pillow and smiling up at James who was now stroking her hair. She gazed at the door that led to her room and then turned her attention to the door that led to James' room and sighed, wishing that she could always be that close physically to her boyfriend. Lily entwined her fingers with James and tried pushing thoughts of post-graduation out of her head.

* * *

"Oh my god! I can't believe we are officially not gonna be apart of Hogwarts in twenty minutes!!" Kacie shrieked, giving Lily the biggest hug she's ever given. She looked around in the throngs of people but didn't see Gigi anywhere. "Where the hell is Gigi? She should be celebrating with us!" 

"Probably avoiding Sirius," Lily mumbled. "She's getting pretty good at it."

"I don't get it," Kacie said. "It's so obvious that she loves him. Why can't she just admit it to herself?"

"And most importantly, admit it to _Sirius_," Lily muttered and then shook her head.

"Group photo!" Remus cried out, putting his arms around Lily and Kacie and pressing the button.

"Where are the rest of your buddies?" Kacie asked.

"Probably taunting the professors," Remus said. "They only have another few hours to do so."

"I bet Sirius squeezes another detention in before we go out into the real word," Lily said with a laugh.

"I bet he gets _two _detentions before we leave," Kacie said, laughing along with Lily.

"Why do the professors keep running away when I walk up to them?" Sirius asked, munching on a pretzel.

"Experience," Peter snickered, walking up to the group with James.

"Okay, we need a photo of all of us," Remus suggested. "Where's Gigi?"

"There she is!" Kacie called out, waving Gigi over to the group. Gigi walked over with a smile on her face, determined not to let the whole Sirius and love thing get in her way of graduating.

"Hey babe," Sirius said, kissing her on the cheek. He too decided that they were both making a big deal out of nothing and wanted this day to be the best day of his life. Gigi smiled and put her arm around his waist.

Lily looked around at her best friends and couldn't help but grin. She had the best seven years of her life, the last one being the best ever, and she couldn't believe that soon she wouldn't be waking up every day to see the Marauders, her girl friends, and especially James. She put her arms around James on the left and Kacie on the right and smiled for the camera.

Sirius kept his arm around Gigi and turned to the group. "This is the life," Sirius said. "It's all I've ever known."

James turned to Sirius. "Remember back in first year when we all became roommates," James said with a huge grin, looking around at Remus and Peter. "And we realized that we'd actually have to do homework." James looked at Sirius. "Well, _most _of us."

"And we learned how to pull of pranks!" Sirius cried out and then looked at Peter. "Well, _most _of us."

"And you guys got like twenty detentions in one week," Lily said with a laugh.

"Oooh, and what about second year? That was even better," Sirius said. "We started to become really cool. We tried out for the Quidditch team…and made it! We got with a bunch of girls…and a few guys."

"What??" Lily and Gigi cried out.

"Just seeing if you were paying attention," Sirius said with a wink.

"When did we meet you guys?" James asked.

"When you tossed pudding at me during first year," Lily said with a laugh.

James thought back that far and burst out laughing. "Wow, you _hated _me."

"Who says anything changed?" Lily said with a laugh, tightening her grip around James's waist.

"Well I remember meeting you guys in Potions during the first week or so," Remus said.

Kacie burst out laughing. "The Potions class where you guys all got detention because you accidentally spilled your potion on that poor boy."

"Oh Kace. I thought you knew us better than that," James said, "That was no accident and definitely no poor boy. It was Snape."

The group laughed so hard that they didn't hear Dumbledore over the speaker telling them all to take their seats.

"I can't believe how fast these seven years have gone," Sirius said with all seriousness, glancing down at the group that occupied all his time during Hogwarts.

"Ahem," Headmaster Dumbledore cleared his throat, looking straight at the group. "When I say everyone take their seats, that mean you guys too."

The group glanced around at everyone starting to sit down and couldn't help but burst out laughing again.

"You know you'll miss me Dumbledore!" Sirius cried out and was glad when he could see a faint smile come across the face of the Headmaster. Sirius grinned as he took his seat, giving James a high five, not at all embarrassed by his actions.

* * *

Gigi stood in the corner of the grounds, leaning up against a tree, admiring everyone hugging and congratulating each other on graduating. She even laughed as she saw Sirius practically jump into the arms of a fellow Quidditch member and then saw a beater from the team bombard both of them, flinging his arms around their shoulders. 

"And what is such a pretty girl doing hiding behind a tree?" a voice asked from behind Gigi.

She turned and gave a weak smile. "Hey James. What are you doing over here?"

"Finding out why you're not out there making a fool of yourself in front of your former classmates," James said with a laugh.

Gigi threw her head back and laughed. "I think it's more fun to admire everyone else being absolute imbeciles."

James grinned. "It is interesting," James said, letting out a laugh as Sirius jumped on Remus's back from behind.

James looked out of the corner of his eye and noticed Gigi sigh. "I'm sorry for causing problems," James mumbled. "I didn't mean to make a big deal out of the whole love thing with you and Sirius."

"You didn't," Gigi said. "It's nothing to worry about."

"Have you even told him congrats on graduating?" James wondered.

"I'm waiting for everyone else to tell him how amazing it is that he actually graduated," Gigi said. James gave her a look. "No really, I was gonna throw him a surprise party…but then I figured him graduating was surprise enough."

James couldn't help but laugh at that response. "Just go talk to him."

"James, seriously, I'm not standing over here because I'm afraid about the subject of love, okay?" Gigi said.

"Then what _are _you afraid of?" James wondered.

"Goodbyes," she whispered to herself.

"Huh?"

Gigi sighed. "I don't want to say goodbye to all of you. I don't want this to end."

"It doesn't have to," James assured her. "Just because we're leaving and won't have homework or exams or detention after detention or-"

"-hamburger eating contests or strip Quidditch or game after game of Twister," Gigi said with a smile.

"Right," James said, smiling back at her. "Doesn't mean what we have is gonna end."

Gigi just smiled to make James happy and was able to get out a, "Yeah, I suppose so."

"AGGGH!!!" Lily shrieked, jumping up at Gigi. "We're done!!!'

"No more exams! No more staying up all night studying!" Kacie cried out, running to hug Gigi and Lily…which ended up in too much weight and they all fell down to the ground.

James folded his arms across his body. "This is hot."

Remus came up admiring the group. "All we need is jello."

Lily grinned and pulled them down with them.

"Dude, you are totally ruining the threesome that was about to occur," Peter said, shaking his head at James and then at Remus.

"I'd rather have an orgy that I'm apart of," James said, grinning from ear to ear.

Peter thought about that for a second and then piled on top of them.

_CLICK. _The entire group looked up to see the flash from a camera that Sirius was holding. "This one is going straight to Dumbledore," Sirius said with a grin.

"Come here," Gigi said, pulling him on top of her. Sirius smiled at her and gave her a huge kiss on the lips.

Sirius glanced around at his best friends, his partners in crime, the people who got him through every tough thing he's been through and he couldn't help but smile from ear to ear. He laughed as James starting piling leaves on Lily at the same time that Kacie, Remus, and Peter were having a vicious grass-throwing contest. "This is the life," he whispered, not caring that Gigi was the only one to hear.

Gigi glanced up at Sirius and quickly got onto her feet, brushing the grass and dirt off of her. "We should say congrats to the other graduates as well," she said abruptly, darting away before anyone could say anything.

"What's her problem?" Remus wondered.

"I'll give you one guess," Sirius said, hanging his head with a sigh.

* * *

"Hey hun," Sirius said, finally finding Gigi behind the stage fifteen minutes later. 

"Hi," she mumbled, not even having to glance over; she knew exactly who it would be before he even got there.

Sirius sat beside her on the back of the stage and put his arm around her shoulder, letting out a sigh of relief when she didn't run away but instead nestled closer to him. "What's wrong?"

"What do you mean, what's wrong?" Gigi retorted. "We're leaving. This is it. Only one more night here at Hogwarts and then we're thrown out into the real world."

"Oh don't worry, I'm already working out a plan to get all of us to stay here much longer," Sirius teased.

"What did you have in mind?"

"Well I'm either gonna send Dumbledore an anonymous owl that someone here is a murderer and no one can leave until we figure out who or…" Sirius trailed off. "Well that plan took a lot of work so I only came up with one."

"So basically what you're telling me I should pack my bags?" Gigi said with a smile.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," Sirius said, glad to hear a laugh escape Gigi.

Gigi and Sirius grew quiet as they looked out on the horizon and noticed the sun slightly starting to set. Sirius glanced down at Gigi leaning against his chest and sighed. She had every right to be upset…he didn't want to leave either.

"Hey Gi?" Sirius whispered.

"Hm?"

"I know I should have been the one to tell you first and not James," Sirius said. "But I-"

"No, don't," Gigi said quickly, her voice trembling. "Please don't ruin this perfect moment."

Sirius's face grew flush and he let go of Gigi. He backed away slowly, turning his head away from Gigi so she wouldn't see how hurt he was. "It would _ruin _the moment?" When he didn't hear a response, he told himself to stop shaking from embarrassment and turn and look at her, to see what she was thinking.

Gigi sat there completely helpless and completely silent, a few tears escaping her left eye.

Sirius tried to sit there being angry at his girlfriend because of what she just said but it wasn't working very well, especially since she was sitting right in front of him crying. He couldn't even think of what to say; he hated when girls cried…especially the girl he loved. "Gigi, please tell me what's wrong."

"I got an internship," Gigi finally admitted.

"So?" Sirius questioned. There was a few seconds of silence as Sirius waited for her to explain why she seemed so upset. When he realized she wasn't going to say anything he continued, "That's awesome! You actually have a _plan _for the future. You are gonna _do _something with your life. You-"

"In Romania," Gigi concluded, not daring to look at Sirius. Instead she focused on the stick by her right foot.

"-are leaving me," Sirius finished, a stunned look plastered on his face. Gigi had to turn away because she couldn't stand seeing Sirius upset. When Sirius could finally say something all he could think of was, "_What?_"

Gigi sighed. "I got an internship working in a Potions Conservatory…in Romania."

"But you hate Potions," Sirius said.

"No Sirius," Gigi corrected. "_You _hate Potions."

"Oh…are you sure?" Sirius asked.

"Sirius, you hate _anything _that has to do with classes," Gigi pointed out.

"Oh right." Sirius looked down at Gigi who was refusing to look his way and tapped her chin ever so slightly, forcing her head to the left where he was sitting. "But what about us?" Sirius asked.

Even though Sirius was holding her chin, she darted her eyes away from his. "I have to do this," Gigi said softly, referring to the internship.

Sirius looked down at Gigi who appeared so vulnerable at this moment and was refusing to look at him. "Why won't you look at me?" Sirius asked powerlessly.

"Because I can't," Gigi said, her bottom lip trembling.

It was silent for several awkward seconds until Sirius finally spoke up. "Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"And ruin the end of Hogwarts?" Gigi asked.

"At least I would have been better prepared!" Sirius cried out, not getting angry at her but getting angry at the fact that she could be leaving.

"I just found out last night, what do you expect from me?" Gigi asked, getting up from the stage and pacing in front of him.

"Well I certainly didn't expect you to leave for another _country_," Sirius cried out.

"There's nothing in England for me!"

Sirius just stood there for a few silent seconds. "So I guess that makes me nothing," Sirius said, not saying it in the form of a question but instead just bluntly stating it.

Gigi sighed. "You know that's not what I meant."

"Oh really?" Sirius retorted. "Because that's exactly what you just said."

"Sirius," Gigi said helplessly, not wanting him to get mad.

"You know what?" Sirius asked. "Just forget it. Go to Romania. Have a nice life."

Gigi watched Sirius walk away. "Sirius," Gigi called out, practically begging.

To her surprise, he actually stopped walking and slowly turned around, that same wounded puppy look on his face that made her want to cry. In fact, she wanted to go over there and just hold him. But instead, she stood her ground and just looked at him, not sure why she called out his name because she couldn't think of anything to say.

She finally opened her mouth, "Do you really want to end on a fight?"

"It would make it a lot easier," Sirius murmured, not even sure what he meant by that.

"Huh?"

Sirius sighed. "It's a lot easier to let you go if I hate you."

Gigi let out a sharp intake of breath. "You hate me?"

Sirius bit his lip. "I wish." He sighed. "It would make this a lot easier."

"You mean a lot to me, Si," Gigi explained. "But this is the job of a lifetime. I can't just give that up. And if I stay in England, who's to say that I'm ever gonna get an opportunity like this."

Sirius took a few steps forward and looked up at her. "When?"

"When what?" Gigi asked monotonously.

"When do you leave?"

Gigi just looked at him for a few seconds before answering. "In three days."

"_Three days?_" Sirius cried out. He ran his hands threw his hair a couple times and went to sit on the stage. He looked up at Gigi as she started pacing back and forth in front of him, obviously confused about whether she was happy about the job and sad to leave Sirius and angry at him for getting mad at her. Let's face it, she was one complicated girl.

Sirius looked at Gigi's face and realized that getting mad at her on one of their last days together wasn't the right thing. "Gi," Sirius said slowly, still sitting on the stage as she was pacing irritably in front of him.

Gigi didn't want to hear him reprimand her anymore. "_No. _Look, I know this sucks, believe me, _I know_. But it's something I have to do," Gigi cried out.

"Gigi," Sirius said calmly.

"I _love _Potions. This is a job of a lifetime, I can't just give that up!" Gigi shouted.

"Giliba," Sirius called out.

"Or should I?" Gigi wondered and then hesitated. "Oh my god. You think I should give this job up, don't you?"

"Gi," Sirius repeated.

"I can't do that!" Gigi shouted and then sighed, looking into Sirius's eyes. "I _need _to do this."

"Gigi," Sirius said, looking back into her eyes.

Gigi tilted her head to the side with an aggravated sigh. "What?"

Sirius held out his arms for Gigi and she slowly walked towards him, falling into them, so happy to have his arms around her. He stroked her hair. "I know," he whispered. Gigi melted into him and didn't even care when her tears stained the shirt on his chest.

Sirius wrapped his arms around Gigi tighter as she shook, the tears sloshing out of her eyes. Finally she wiped her eyes dry and pulled apart from Sirius, stepping back a little. "So does this mean…" she said slowly.

Sirius nodded. "I think so," he said, having trouble getting the words out. Gigi and Sirius looked at each other one last time, knowing that they were breaking up.

Sirius jumped off the stage and turned his back to Gigi, glancing around for the rest of the group. He saw them conversing with Dumbledore. Sirius looked down at his feet, refusing to turn back around to look at Gigi and instead, kept his back to her. "Goodbye Gigi."

Gigi wanted to take the five steps towards him and just wrap her arms around him, holding him forever, but she just stood there helplessly. She saw him walk around the stage and up to their friends and sighed to herself. "I love you Sirius." And the only thing she could think about was how he was never going to get to hear those words from her.

* * *

Gigi walked wearily over to the group sitting on the folding chairs that were just used for the ceremony. She noticed the last of the professors and graduates go their separate ways and turned her attention back to the group…as James conjured up a champagne bottle. 

Lily smiled. "It's nice knowing that you can't get into trouble anymore."

"Oh I don't know," Kacie said. "Sirius still has that one last detention to get in before we leave tomorrow morning."

"Should my last detention be because I blew Snape up? Or because I swam stark naked in the lake?" Sirius asked with a laugh.

"Go with the lake," Kacie said. "More fun for us."

"I object," James said, taking a huge swig of the champagne. "Seeing Snape blown up into a million pieces is _way _more fun for me."

Sirius took a sip from the bottle and looked up at Gigi, locking eyes with her. He handed her the bottle with a half smile on his face, which took all the energy in the world to muster up.

"Okay, I'm gonna go skip rocks," James announced, looking over at the lake.

Lily rolled her eyes but got up (after taking a huge gulp from the champagne bottle). "I'll come with you."

Remus watched them go and then turned back to the group. "Somehow I have a feel no rock skipping is going to occur."

Lily took James's hand as they walked over to the lake, the sunset's reflection shimmering off of it. They stood in comfortable silence, watching the ripples in the lake, both of them refusing to think of life after Hogwarts.

Lily cleared her throat and turned her body so she was facing James. James hesitated but finally looked at her. "I've decided that I definitely am going to a University," Lily elected.

James didn't even realize he was holding his breath until a huge gasp of air escaped his mouth. "But…" was all he could think of to say at first. "But, what about us? I know I haven't been the perfect guy but I'm trying. Doesn't that count for anything?"

Lily smiled at how vulnerable her boyfriend looked. "Yes, and that's why-"

"I can be better! I promise!" James exclaimed. "Please Lily, I'll do anything."

"James. I'm going-"

"I'll buy you candy and flowers every day," James pleaded.

"James!" Lily cried out. James sighed and tilted his head to look at her. "Ask me where."

"Huh?"

"Ask me where," she repeated.

James sighed. "Where?"

"London," Lily concluded.

"London? England London?" James asked, a huge smile creeping up on his face.

"Actually it's London, England," Lily said. "But yes."

James wrapped his arms around Lily's waist and touched his forehead to hers. "I love you."

Lily smiled and nestled her head against James's chest, tightening her arms around his torso. "I love you, too."

Lily looked up at James and she stood up on her tippy-toes in order to kiss him. He deepened the kiss and his hands found their way to the small of her back. He broke apart and said seductively, "Ya know…we only have the private quarters for one more night…"

"But what about the others?" Lily asked.

"Well, they can come too," James said. "But I was kind of looking forward to the privacy."

Lily hit him playfully on the arm. "We can't ditch them."

James laughed. "I know. I was kidding," he said with a shrug. Lily gave him a look. "…for the most part."

Lily rested her head against James's shoulder and they both continued to look at the sun set off in the horizon. After a moment of silence, Lily said, "So…candy and flowers everyday, huh?"

James threw his head back and laughed, happy that Lily could get his mind off the fact that Hogwarts was ending.

* * *

"You _can't _be serious," Kacie cried out with a shocked laugh. 

"Oh I _am_," Sirius confirmed and then paused. "And not just because that's my name."

Kacie laughed and handed the almost empty champagne to Sirius. "You amaze me sometimes."

"Thank you," Sirius said with a smug grin.

"Like how you graduated…that's pretty amazing. Or how you weren't expelled back in first year," Kacie explained. "And how somehow practically every girl at Hogwarts has fallen for you."

Sirius's grin faded. "Somehow I get the feeling that me amazing you isn't a good thing."

"You're a quick one," Kacie said with a wink.

"Hey guys," James said, walking back from the lake with his arm around Lily. "Whatcha talking about?"

"Sirius's stupidity," Remus said with a shrug.

"Oh but guys…we only have til tomorrow morning," James joked, giving Sirius a playful pat on the shoulder.

"Ya know…" Sirius said slowly. "I'm starting to think that you guys don't find me that smart."

It was silent until James cleared his throat. "Oh c'mon. We don't think that…" James said slowly and unconvincingly.

"You know, I was always taught not to lie," Lily whispered in his ear.

"Shhh," James hissed back and then turned back to Sirius and gave him a fake smile.

"Let's play spin the bottle," Sirius decided.

"Let's not," Remus offered.

"Hmm…also a good idea, but let's go with mine," Sirius said.

"Let's not," Remus repeated.

"You keep saying that," Sirius said.

"And you keep _not _getting the picture," Remus said.

Kacie plopped down Indian style on the ground and looked up at her friends. "So what are the predictions?"

"What do you mean?" Remus asked, taking the last sip from the champagne bottle.

"On the future," Kacie said with a shrug. "Like in eight years, I predict that James and Lily will be married with at least two children."

"And I'll be the best man at their wedding," Sirius said with a grin.

"I predict that Sirius will be living in a box with an imaginary friend named Bongo," Remus said.

"That's very descriptive," Sirius said. "And I would name him Antoine, not Bongo."

"I can see Kacie as a professor somewhere," Lily decided.

"Really?" Gigi said. "Because I can totally see Remus teaching somewhere."

"I bet Peter becomes the most successful out of all of us," Gigi said with a grin.

"Don't worry," Peter said. "I'll invite you all over to visit my mansion."

Sirius looked over at Gigi and couldn't help thinking how successful she was going to be at potions…in a completely different country.

"Well, I think Sirius and Gigi will end up married," Kacie said, causing both Sirius and Gigi to choke on air and sit there frozen in place. "I mean, _some_one has to make Sirius settle down at some point."

Gigi and Sirius refused to look at each other and instead, Sirius changed the subject. "I don't want to talk about the future anymore," Sirius said. "It's too depressing." Gigi silently thanked Sirius for keeping the conversation away from her.

Lily glanced around at her friends who were sitting there laughing about their futures. She looked at Kacie and Remus discussing where they would end up teaching and then turned her attention to Peter who was comparing his fake future life to Sirius's, making her laugh as they discussed the elephant and giraffes they would have in their mansions. She couldn't help noticing how quiet Gigi was, just staring out at the pink sky, watching the last sliver of the sun go down.

Lily turned her attention to James who was leaning in to kiss her at that moment. Lily wrapped both her arms around James and hugged him close. She couldn't believe that Hogwarts was ending but at the same time, she was a little excited to see what the future had in store for her.

…too bad she didn't know just how short of a future it would be.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

_yay! i finished! ...wait, i shouldn't be cheering. it's so sad! what am i gonna do with my time? ooo, i'll work on a sequel! (but you'll have to wait a pretty long time for that). _

_don't yell at me because of what i did between sirius and gigi! i kno you like happy endings... but we'll have to see what will happen in the sequel (if i decide to write one). REVIEW AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! the more reviews i get...the more i'll be inclined to write a sequel!_

_3 backstabberEm_


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